Jordanian shot dead in US in ‘road rage’ incident

AMMAN — The Foreign Ministry has received no official report from US authorities on the results of an investigation into the fatal shooting of Jordanian Ziad Abu Naim in Texas earlier this week.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sabah Al Rafie told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that the investigation is still under way. 

“The government’s move on the case will take shape once official results are out,” she added.

Family members of Abu Naim were quoted by US media outlets as saying that the 42-year-old died Sunday evening in Houston after he was allegedly shot by 43-year-old Robert Craig Klimek in what police described as a case of road rage.

ABC 13’s Eyewitness News cited court records saying that there was a dispute over who had the right-of-way at the intersection of Fairdale and Greenridge in Southwest Houston. 

Ziad reportedly got out of his vehicle and punched Klimek twice in the face.

The Jordanian’s relatives and the Council on Islamic-Arabic Relations were quoted in the local press as calling on authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

US media outlets also quoted Ziad’s wife, the only eyewitness at the scene, as allegedly hearing Klimek say “Go back to Islam” before shooting him. 

On Monday, Eyewitness News quoted Klimek’s attorney Craig Seldin as saying: “We think it’s unfair he’s been accused of engaging in a hate crime. This was a random traffic dispute during which he was defending himself. We vociferously deny any allegations of a hate crime.”

But Ziad’s brother had another opinion.

“I was scared for my kids because we’re Muslim Americans from out of [a] Middle East background,” the brother told Texas police in an interview aired by the Houston-based KHOU TV. “I was disappointed. I love this country with all my heart. So, to hear that somebody [did this] it broke my heart.”