In the winter of 2017, the life of Ammar Shatnawi, a 36-year-old man who had moved to Indianapolis from Jordan, was tragically cut short. On the night of January 3rd, Shatnawi was working at Jordan's Fish and Chicken on the east side of the city alongside his co-worker and roommate, 34-year-old Wesam Sammour. What began as a regular shift ended in a senseless act of violence that left both men dead.
The hours ticked by, and when Shatnawi and Sammour failed to return home, a concerned relative went to the restaurant to check on them. There, in the early hours of the following morning, the grim discovery was made. Both men had been shot and killed in what investigators quickly determined was a robbery-homicide. The news sent a shockwave of fear and grief through the local community, who remembered the two men as kind and hardworking individuals.
Indianapolis Metro Police launched an immediate and intensive investigation into the double murder. Detectives recovered surveillance footage from the restaurant that captured two armed men entering the establishment. The video showed the suspects, whose faces were obscured, jumping over the counter just before the time the murders were believed to have occurred. In the days that followed, the police released this footage to the public, hopeful that someone would recognize the clothing or mannerisms of the individuals responsible for this heinous crime.
Despite the circulation of the surveillance video and pleas from law enforcement and the victims' families for any information that could lead to a breakthrough, the case grew cold. The initial flurry of leads and community support did not result in the identification and apprehension of the suspects. To this day, the killers of Ammar Shatnawi and Wesam Sammour have not been brought to justice, and no arrests have ever been made in connection with their murders. The case remains an unsolved tragedy, a painful open wound for their loved ones and the community they had come to call home.
