Gunman Kills Three Musicians In Brooklyn

posted in: Music News

UPDATE: According to a statement from the band’s manager, the shooter in this morning’s incident was not a former member of The Yellow Dogs. The statement reads:

The shooter was not a former member of the band The Yellow Dogs, he was in another band from Iran and the two groups were acquaintances in the past. A personal conflict between the guys resulted in the dissolution of their relationship in 2012. The shooting resulted in the death of two of the members of the Yellow Dogs, Sourosh Farazmand (guitarist) and Arash Farazmand (drummer), along with a friend of theirs, fellow musician and author Ali Eskandarian. The shooter died from a self inflicted bullet wound on site.

ORIGINAL POST: From Brooklyn, a tragic story is unfolding after three musicians were shot to death by a former bandmate before the guman killed himself.

The New York Post reports that Raefe Ahkbar, who had been kicked out of the dance-punk band The Yellow Dogs upon allegations of stealing from the band, entered a Maujer St. building after shooting a bystander, who was not killed, and shot his three ex-bandmates. Reports are that he confronted them about his firing before killing them with a military-style rifle.

The band had come to New York from Iran, where their music was prohibited by the repressive Iranian regime. Their story had been reported by CNN in 2009, and was focused on in a documentary called No One Knows About Persian Cats, which won a prize at Cannes.

The men killed have been identified as singer Ali Eskandarian, drummer Arash Farazmand, and guitarist Soroush Farazmand. Our thoughts go out to their family, friends, and fans. Watch their CNN feature after the jump.