In the early hours of a Wednesday morning, the life of 36-year-old Modassar Khandaker, a male resident of Brooklyn, New York, was tragically cut short. On February 9, 2022, Khandaker was returning to his Forbell Street home in the Cypress Hills neighborhood after a late shift at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he worked as a wheelchair attendant.
At approximately 12:46 a.m., just as he was getting out of his vehicle, he was ambushed and shot once in the head.
The sound of a single gunshot pierced the quiet of the street. Officers from the 75th Precinct arrived to find Khandaker unconscious and unresponsive on the sidewalk in front of his house. Emergency medical services rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, but his injury was too severe, and he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. The brazen attack, which occurred just steps from his front door and across the street from his mosque, left a community in shock and a family devastated. Khandaker was a married father of a young child.
In the wake of the shooting, police began an intensive investigation. Surveillance footage from a neighbor's camera captured the image of a person on the sidewalk moments before the shot was fired, and then running down the street immediately after. The video then shows the same individual running back in the opposite direction. Despite this footage, a clear motive for the killing has not been established. Investigators noted that Khandaker was not robbed, and it did not appear that the assailant had attempted to steal his car. As of now, no arrests have been made in connection with the murder of Modassar Khandaker, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The investigation remains ongoing as his family and community continue to seek answers and justice.
