An Iraqi refugee was shot by more than 60 bullets that penetrated the windshield of his car in Portland, Oregon, USA, causing brain damage that his family says cannot be cured.
According to the American "Oregon Life" website (oregonlive.com), the incident occurred last Saturday, and the police suspect that the Iraqi refugee Zulfiqar Masir was not the intended target of the shooting, and that it appeared to be an ambush by a gang.
Investigators say it is possible that the gang fired by mistake on Messer, who works as a taxi driver, both because of the type of car he was driving and because he was driving slowly on Northeast Stafford Street in search of his next customer.
Police said that more than one person had shot the Iraqi refugee’s car, and investigators quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the shooters were driving two cars that drove west of Stafford Street after the accident.
Messer (left) with two of his friends before the accident (Oregon Live)
A family member said Messier was still under resuscitation devices in intensive care at the Legacy Emmanuel Medical Center.
His uncle, Alaa Adham, told Oregon Live that Messier was hit by at least one bullet in the head, indicating that his family was struggling to accept the dark news from the doctor that Mesir had incurable brain damage and that he would not survive.
The 23-year-old Mesir lived with his mother, father and two sisters in southeast Portland, and he has another brother who lives in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Adham described his nephew as a struggling human being trying to earn a living to support his family and pay the installments for his new car.
Mesir visited his country, Iraq, last August, got married there, then returned to Portland and was trying to find an immigration attorney to help him bring his wife to Portland to live with him.