New York Squatter Accused of Killing Two Workers Who Came to House

Police in Buffalo, New York, have taken a person into custody in connection with a double homicide that authorities and the mayor are linking to a home squatter.

The unspecified individual was arrested in connection to the deaths of Bangladeshi workers Babul Meah and Abu Yousuf, described as family men who were both shot to death at about 12:35 p.m. Saturday on Zenner Street when attempting to fix up what they thought was a vacant home going up on the market.

About 61 percent of Americans oppose the concept of squatters’ rights in general, while 66 percent of people who believe a current law in New York is too lenient believe squatters should “never” be given rights, no matter how long they have inhabited a property, according to a survey conducted exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

Police said Monday on social media that a person was arrested in connection with the shooting and that a gun was recovered. An investigation remains ongoing.

Crimestoppers WNY on Sunday offered a reward of up to $7,500 for information leading to the arrest or indictment of the person(s) responsible for the murders.

Newsweek reached out to police and Crimestoppers via email for comment.

Officers responded to a 911 call of shots fired in the 100 block where the murders occurred, arriving on the scene to find one victim dead on the porch and another shot in the street, according to Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia. The victim found in the street was later declared dead at the hospital.

Witnesses on scene reportedly told police that they saw the alleged gunman run back into the unoccupied residence after shooting the two victims, which Gramaglia said led to law enforcement circling the resident as part of a “barricaded situation.”

Local police called in SWAT teams, a helicopter and additional resources while they awaited a search warrant for the home.

Nobody was found in the house when entry was ultimately made, though detectives recovered video showing the apparent gunman with image stills distributed to media over the weekend.

The commissioner said the house in question, according to preliminary investigation, was in the process of being sold by a management company that owns it. The two victims were hired to prepare the home for when it went for sale.

“[The victims] were workers,” Gramaglia said, according to local NBC affiliate WGRZ. “These were innocent people that were there to clean up the house to do work on the house and to get it ready for closing as a part of that sale.”

Gramaglia could not confirm how long the squatter had been at the residence but said evidence pointed to a lengthy stay.

He and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown met with hundreds of members of the Bangladeshi community on Sunday at the Buffalo Muslim Center.

The meeting was intended to empathize with the community and let them know their concerns were being heard by local officials, Gramaglia said.

“Obviously, they were very emotional, they were very upset,” he said. “We’re emotional and upset as well whenever anyone in our community is murdered, gunned down.”

Brown said there was “no indication” that the victims were targeted.

“It appears there was a squatter inside the house, someone who should not have been there or was not authorized to live there,” Brown told the gathered mourners at the mosque, according to The Buffalo News. “It appears anyone who came to that house and tried to go in, this individual who did the shooting would have shot them.

“It could have been the postal worker, the cable person, the gas company, the electric company.”

Newsweek reached out to the mayor’s office via email for comment.