Arlington Police are looking for two men who shot a father of six to death as he returned home from work early Tuesday morning.
Police say the two men were on Prentice St. near Collins St. and I-20 pulling on vehicle door handles, looking to steal valuables from those vehicles.
Just as they were targeting a car parked in front of Ali Ismail's house at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday, Ismail pulled into the driveway after returning home from working overnight at the trucking company he owned.
Ismail put his vehicle in reverse to try to get away, but his vehicle ended up getting stuck in the soft ground.
That's when the burglar shot him multiple times; police counted 12 shell casings at the scene.
Ismail died at the scene.
"Ali was a hard working guy," says family friend Mustafa Yasiin. "He graduated from (UT Arlington), has his own company, eight people under his belt working for him. Six kids at home, the seventh on the way."
The kids Ismail left behind range in age from 12 to one.
Neighbors are in complete shock.
"I've been living over here for 40 years and never had a single problem," says Rafael Morales, who lives a few houses down from the murder scene.
Yasiin says the entire community is devastated.
"We Somalis, we're a minor community here in south Arlington," says Yasiin. "We're not a lot like in Minnesota or Minneapolis where we are powerful out there. But here, we have a small community, and everybody is devastated at this moment."
Yasiin says his friend's death is completely senseless.
"This guy killed a guy with six kids," says Yasiin. "I feel sorry for those children."
Police are asking anyone with home surveillance systems to check the footage to see if they captured images of the two burglars.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Hall at 817-459-5325.
They can remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-8477 (TIPS).
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