Iranian Rock Musicians Killed In Brooklyn Murder-Suicide

Three members of an Iranian indie rock band based in Brooklyn were shot and killed on Monday by a fellow musician, who later killed himself.

Two of the slain rockers – Saroush Farazmand, 27, and Arash Farazmand, 28 – were brothers and were currently playing for the band the Yellow Dogs. They were both shot in a second-floor bedroom of their East Williamsburg apartment building, as was the 35-year-old musician Ali Eskandarian.

The shooter, Ali Akbar Mohammadi Rafie, 29, had been in the indie band the Free Keys, which Arash Farazmand had played in prior to joining the Yellow Dogs. He was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the rooftop of the building.

Rafie’s motive in the killing spree may have been a “petty conflict” that had evolved between the two bands, Ali Salehezadeh, a spokesperson for the Yellow Dogs told CNN. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters that the conflict was “over money.”

Back in 2009, the Yellow Dogs were featured in a CNN story about the up-and-coming rock scene in Iran. After they received considerable attention and acclaim for a track on a film soundtrack, they uprooted to the Brooklyn neighborhood to escape potential persecution from Islamic authorizes.

– Chelsea Regan

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