Burial held for Yemeni American father shot and killed in Oakland store armed robbery
"It's shocking. He is not coming home anymore."
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A father who was shot and killed during an armed robbery in Oakland on Saturday night was buried by family and community members on Wednesday.
"It's shocking. He is not coming home anymore. All the kids, they are just getting used it," explains Amjad Alazzani, the eldest of four siblings.
Saturday night, Amjad's father, Maged, was shot and killed during a robbery at the family-owned Orlando Market in West Oakland.
"He is like the angel-on-your-shoulder-type of guy. Any time you do something wrong, you hear his voice telling you not to," says Amjad.
A funeral prayer was held according Islamic tradition at the Oakland Islamic Center. The body was brought to the mosque in a cardboard casket, the body wrapped in a white shroud. During the burial, only the wrapped body is placed into the ground. Like Jews, Muslims are buried within 72 hours of death.
Maged was an immigrant from Yemen. He leaves behind a wife and four children. And, was well-respected throughout the community.
MORE: Fallen Oakland police officer Tuan Le honored, remembered at Buddhist vigil
"He was a very hardworking man, very hard working man," says Samir Aldabashi, a family friend who knew Maged for many years. "You just seen with your own eyes, how many people from Stockton, Lodi, the valley, and the Bay Area came to make prayer for Maged Alazzani. It is really sad what is going on in the Bay Area."
"It is a senseless killing. This should never have happened. We are burying a father, a husband, a brother, a friend, a community member. A human being," says Ali AlBasiery, President of the Bay Area Small Merchant Chamber of Commerce.
For months, AlBasiery has been calling attention to the on-going robberies at the many Yemeni-owned neighborhood community markets in Oakland. Warning that one day it could turn deadly.
"They robbed him. They could have got the couple of hundred bucks and left. They did not have to shoot him. They did not have to kill him. And this has to stop. This is getting out of hand," says AlBasiery, who is also Yemeni-American.
Alazzani will be buried at a Muslim cemetery in Livermore. No arrests have been made.
"His life is just as important as the (Oakland) police officer's life. They caught the killer of the police officer within a few days," says AlBasiery, speaking of Officer Tuan Le.
Officer Le was killed on December 29 while responding to a burglary at a cannabis business near Oakland's Jack London Square. So far, five suspects have been arrested.
"And I think this is what we are demanding, from the community, from the residents of Oakland, business owners. They are scared. We are demanding from the police to apprehend these criminals and bring them to justice," says AlBasiery.
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