Arrest Made In Shooting Death At Mosque During Ramadan

THONOTOSASSA, FL — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has made an arrest in the fatal shooting at a Thonotosassa mosque following a Ramadan observance.

Rakibul Haque, 40, of Temple Terrace has been charged with second-degree felony murder with a firearm in the May 20 death of Rafat Saeed Kareem, 36, at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay, 7326 E. Sligh Ave.

According to the sheriff's office, just before midnight May 20, Haque and Kareem got into an argument in the parking lot of the mosque following a Ramadan gathering and prayer service attended by several hundred people. During the argument, Haque pulled out a gun and shot Kareem. The two men were attending prayer services at the mosque and knew one another.

An off-duty deputy, who had been working a security detail for the event, heard the gunshot and rushed to the scene where he found Kareem laying on the ground and Haque holding a gun.

Paramedics took Kareem to Tampa General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

At the time of the shooting, the sheriff's office said the parking lot was filled with people preparing to leave the service, but no one else was injured.

A warrant was issued Friday for Haque's arrest, and he turned himself into the sheriff's office Saturday.

Less than two weeks after the shooting, Kareem's wife, Huda Salim Kareem, filed a civil lawsuit against the mosque saying mosque officials knew there was a problem between Kareem and Haque, and did nothing to prevent the shooting.

The couple were raising Kareem's two daughters from a previous marriage. She said they met after she moved to the United States in 2008 to escape violence in her native Iraq.

The lawsuit maintains that Haque was a volunteer security guard at the mosque but the mosque has denied that he worked in any official capacity for the Islamic Society.

“Mr. Haque shoved Mr. Saeed face-first into the ground and, before Mr. Saeed could get back to his feet, Mr. Haque shot him twice in the back," contended attorney Sam Badwi in the lawsuit. "The shots fired by Mr. Haque, who was acting within the scope of his employment as a security guard for (the mosque), resulted in the death of Mr. Saeed.”

See related story: Man Fatally Shot At Local Mosque Following Ramadan Event