A Massachusetts woman shot her brother-in-law, his father, her own dad and herself to death after she publicly accused the first man of physically abusing her sister for years while the other two – along with additional relatives – stood idly by, according to authorities and a chilling social media post that offers an apparent motive for the violence.
The gruesome saga began with a Facebook post published on the afternoon of 23 August in which Khosay Sharifi recounted how her sister has been choked, slapped, kicked, punched in the face and cursed out by her husband of 14 years.
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Sharifi – whose Facebook page describes her as a native of Kabul, Afghanistan, now living in Lynn, Massachusetts – added in the post: “My parents and his parents knew all these years but have not really done much but say ‘work it out’ [or] ‘what will people say if you separate’ or even victim blaming.”
The post concluded with Sharifi wishing for healing for her sister, ruminating on how some never realized “that abuse can affect someone not just physically but also mentally,” and alleging that her father financially controlled as well as verbally mistreated her mother.
“This whole mindset of ‘just work it out’ needs to change because it is not healthy,” Sharifi, an optician by trade, continued. “I will not deal with this nonsense.”
Minutes later, Sharifi shot her father, 66-year-old Mohamad Sharifi, and brother-in-law Sanjar Halin, 34, at the former’s home. Both died there, a statement from the local district attorney’s office said.
Sharifi then fatally shot her brother-in-law’s father, 56-year-old Abdul Halin, in his car outside an address less than a mile away.
She then drove about a half-mile, parked outside a grocery store, turned the gun on herself and died by suicide, according to prosecutors’ statement.
Prosecutors stopped short of confirming whether revenge was the motive behind the triple murder, saying the DA’s office would not “comment on information contained in social media postings”.
A verified GoFundMe campaign was soliciting donations for “two young children [left] fatherless” by the deadly violence that authorities are blaming on Sharifi. By the weekend, the campaign had already eclipsed its goal of $25,000 thanks to more than 240 donors.
“We have lost four loved ones in devastating and unforeseen circumstances,” read a message on the campaign’s website, which was signed as coming from “the Sharifi family”.
The message continued: “Time and time again, mental health is demonstrated to be such a prominent issue in society. Abuse of all types takes a significant toll on individuals affected, and leads to damage and loss in many ways.”
Word of the Sharifis’ and Halins’ deaths sparked an intense reaction online. One of the more typical reactions from social media users describing themselves as acquaintances of the families involved offered condolences to both Sanjar Halin’s widow and Khosay Sharifi.
“I’m sorry for what you had to go through,” that post said.