An Afghan interpreter who had served alongside U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan was shot dead while working a shift for Lyft, a rideshare company.
Nasrat Ahmad Yar, 31, of Alexandria, Virginia was killed while in his vehicle in Washington, D.C. just after midnight Monday morning, according to a press release from the Metropolitan Police Department.
“He was so happy he got a new car because he could take care of his family,” Yar’s friend, Rahim Amini said in an interview with WUSA9.
Prior to the incident, Yar’s wife had been trying to get her husband to stay home. Yar told her he had to work because he had to “pay rent” and that he didn’t “have that much money,” Amini told the outlet.
Video footage captured by a security camera shows four boys running along an alleyway after a gunshot is heard in the background. One of the boys can be heard shouting, “You killed him! He was about to get out.”
“He was reaching, bro,” another boy can be heard saying.
31-year-old Lyft driver Ahmad Yar, who served as an interpreter for the US Army in Afghanistan, was shot and killed in DC on Monday night.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 6, 2023
Here is surveillance video of the black teenage suspect yelling “he was reachin bro” after shooting him.
pic.twitter.com/NkzBSUUrgO
The D.C. Police Department responded to reports of a shooting in the “400 block of 11th street, NE” a little after midnight, according to a statement from the police department.
Alert: Shooting Investigation at 0008 hours in the 400 block of 11th Street, NE. No Lookout.
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) July 3, 2023
DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911 W/ EVENT #I20230363832
Yar was taken to the hospital after being found with a gunshot wound, but succumbed to his injuries, according to the press release.
A husband and father of four children, ages 13 to 15 months, Yar managed to escape Afghanistan in August 2021 after the Taliban took control.
Prior to moving to Alexandria, Yar first relocated to Philadelphia with his family, where he later felt unsafe after being robbed at gunpoint, Yar’s friend, Jeramie Malone told WUSA9.
Malone had assisted in helping Yar and his family get settled in the U.S. with the help of a volunteer organization in Abu Dhabi, Malone told the outlet.
“You just don’t have the words to describe how you feel about someone who had given so much to his country, not as a citizen, but then comes here and experiences some of the worst behavior our country has to offer,” Matthew Butler, a retired Lieutenant Colonel told WUSA9.
Butler described Yar as a “marked man” regarding his work serving as an interpreter with the U.S. special forces.
A GoFundMe page has been set up in honor of Yar by Malone. All funds received will go directly to Yar’s family to “assist” them in meeting their “basic living expenses and covering essential needs.” The page has raised more than $97,300 over the course of a day.
The investigation regarding this incident is ongoing and a $25,000 reward is offered to anyone with any information, according to the press release from the Metropolitan Police Department.
To date, there have been 127 homicides in the nation’s capital during 2023, up from 107 in 2022. This represents a 19% increase, according to the Metropolitan Police Department website.
IJR reached out to Lyft for a statement but did not receive a response back by time of publication.