Khaled Heeba, a 31-year-old Syrian man who had fled the war in his homeland for a safer life in the United States, was shot and killed in Baltimore, Maryland, on the afternoon of February 7, 2020. Heeba was working, delivering a pizza, at the time of the fatal encounter. The incident took place in the Harlem Park neighborhood, where Heeba was shot in the chest in the 1300 block of West Franklin Street.
Having escaped the violence of the Syrian civil war with his parents, Heeba had been
in the United States for three years and was described by those who knew him as a kind and hardworking man. He was the sole provider for his family. According to a nonprofit organization that assists refugees, Heeba may have been killed after he witnessed a crime and tried to intervene. He reportedly saw a man causing a disturbance, got out of his car, and chased after him. It was then that the suspect turned and shot him.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Baltimore police released surveillance video of a person of interest. The suspect was described as a Black male with a slim build, approximately 5'9' tall, and wearing all black clothing. Despite the public release of this information and pleas for witnesses to come forward, the case went cold. As of the most recent reports, the murder of Khaled Heeba remains unsolved, and no arrests have been made in connection with his death. His family, who sought refuge from violence, were left to mourn a life cut short by the very thing they had tried to escape.
