A November armed robbery took the life of a man now identified as Ahmad Fawad Yusufi, the sole provider for three young children, who’d assisted the U.S. in the Afghanistan war.
It’s often been a great and uplifting story to hear about how the Bay Area has taken in many Afghan refugees. But in some cases, this ends sadly. When a knife-wielding man was shot by police in SoMa last month, we later learned he’d been an Afghan interpreter who worked with the Navy SEALS, and was suffering from PTSD.
UPDATE: Man shot dead near Rolph playground at Cesar Chavez & Potrero was Ahmad Fawad Yusufi, an Afghan refugee & father of 3 who worked as @Uber driver & had served as translator for @USArmy, family says. @SFPD @SFPDMission @sfpdinvestigate on the case pic.twitter.com/67phSZdGXQ
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) December 7, 2021
Another even sadder version of a similar story came to light this week, as KTVU reports that we learned the identity of the victim of a November 28 Potrero Avenue shooting. He was 31-year-old Ahmad Fawad Yusufi, a father of three who’d also been an Afghan interpreter with the U.S. Army. Per the Chronicle, Yusufi “came to the U.S. in 2017 under a Special Immigrant Visa after helping the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.”
Yusufi lived in Sacramento, but would often come to San Francisco to drive for Uber. According to KTVU, “Uber said Yusufi was not working at the time he was shot and killed.” But that may just mean he didn’t have a fare at the time, because Uber is kind of cagey about their definition of “on duty.”
He was shot just before 5 a.m. on November 28 at James Rolph Jr. Playground at Potrero Avenue and Cesar Chavez. An unknown suspect approached Yusufi and a friend in Yusufi’s car, brandishing a gun and demanding their wallets and cell phones. Yusufi tried to run, and the suspect shot him. Yusufi would die later that day.
“That case is not solved at this point,” police chief Bill Scott recently told the Police Commission, according to the Chronicle. “Our investigators are following up on evidence.”
Helping Ahmad Fawad Yusufi's Family https://t.co/S3U3hlZd6F
— Rosalind Sumner (@siskiyougal) December 8, 2021
There’s a GoFundMe campaign to support Yusufi’s family, as he was the family’s sole provider. “Ahmad’s family has been deeply affected by this incident,” according to the campaign’s description. “Ahmad was the father of 3 children, the youngest is 7 months old and the eldest is 10 years. Please help this beloved family in this difficult time.”
Related: Afghan Family Settling In Hayward Tells Harrowing Tale of Escape and Resettlement [SFist]
Image: GoFundMe
