Muslim doctor 'shot and stabbed' outside Texas mosque

Ambush: The victim was shot outside the mosque near Bellaire, in Houston Texas
ABC13
Hannah Al-Othman3 July 2016

A Muslim doctor was shot and stabbed as he headed to morning prayers at a mosque in Houston, Texas.

The incident came just a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque.

The victim of the Texas incident, Dr. Arslan Tajammul, an eye specialist in his 30s, was undergoing surgery and was expected to survive, according to Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The doctor had parked his car and was walking to the Madrasah Islamiah mosque for the day's first prayers when he was ambushed and shot twice at about 5.30am local, before the three attackers fled on foot, Carroll said.

"Police said it was an attempted robbery so we're waiting to see what the investigation finds," he added.

"It's a real strange occurrence because the mosque is in a poor neighborhood, and they were wearing masks, which could mean all kinds of things."

Some people who pray at the mosque have been sleeping overnight there in the final days of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that ends next week, he said.

Houston police did not immediately respond to a request for information.

The shooting took place a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque that had been attended by the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub.

The victim in that case was punched in the head and face outside the Fort Pierce Islamic Center just after 4am on Saturday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said.

Taylor Anthony Mazzanti, 25, was arrested in the attack and was charged with felony battery, the sheriff's office said.

No racially motivated comments were made to the suspect during the incident, said the sheriff's office, which added the case is under investigation.

The Florida branch of CAIR, however, said the attacker made racially offensive remarks including: "You Muslims need to get back to your country" before the assault.

The Islamic Center's imam had requested extra security following last month's mass shooting by Omar Mateen at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse.

Mateen had worshipped at the centre.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in