‘Just in the wrong place at the wrong time’

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This article was published 16/04/2019 (1828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The man killed in a double stabbing Monday arrived in Winnipeg from Syria as a teen two years ago, a family friend says.

The death of 21-year-old Yazan Al Horani and the wounding of his friend was a case of being “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Omar Rahimi said Wednesday.

Winnipeg police confirmed a fight broke out Monday night at the Ramallah Café, an after-hours restaurant and hookah lounge at 325 Pembina Hwy., and two young men were stabbed. One man taken to hospital in critical condition later died; the second was listed in unstable condition.

Police have released no details about the assailant. However, they expected to issue an update today.

Rahimi, who coaches a soccer team of refugees and runs a painting company that employs refugees, confirmed the victim’s name and the circumstances that led up to the slaying. Al Horani was out celebrating his friend’s 19th birthday prior to the fatal encounter.

“You know, just in the wrong place at the wrong time and tempers flare. He was just a poor guy not doing anything wrong. Just like that, he is gone,” said Rahimi, also a former Syrian refugee.

Al Horani had everything to look forward to after a childhood filled with war, fleeing with his family from Syria, and spending his formative years in a refugee camp in Jordan, Rahimi said.

“He was doing good. He was working, going to school (an adult-education program). You know, it’s very sad to go like that.”

Rahimi said the man’s father is a house painter who was to join his crew this spring. The young victim had a new job at Blady Middle Eastern, a grocery-style deli, and had recently become engaged to be married.

Al Horani’s father declined comment on the tragedy Wednesday evening at a traditional Muslim wake held for his son. He asked no photos of his son be published.

Al Horani was the oldest of seven siblings and was adjusting to life in Canada after arriving in Winnipeg in the winter of 2016. To cross the globe for a better life only to die in a fight in a restaurant is heartbreaking, Rahimi said.

“It’s already hard for the family to adjust to life here. Now, to lose somebody in the family makes it even harder,” he said. “It’s very, very hard.”

Adding to the family’s grief, the fatal incident also involved Al Horani’s friend (also from Syria) and a suspect believed to be another newcomer from the Middle East.

“I think they just disagreed on something,” Rahimi said, adding he was told the third man exchanged angry words with Al Horani and his friend.

“No drugs. No nothing. Maybe just anger… It’s all piled up and it all came out at the wrong time. It’s hard to think about what led to this.”

However, in the coming weeks and months, a lot of people will be thinking of the violence that night, he said.

“As a community, we need to accept that Syrians are here. We need to accept that they need help. What kind of help, I don’t know, but they need help and I hope we can talk about that,” Rahimi said.

“As a sign of respect and tribute… we will keep Ramallah closed until further notice,” a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page read Wednesday.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca