Suspected Killer of San Diego Jewish Dentist Was a Former Patient

According to the ADL, there is no indication yet that the Jewish dentist’s murder was an antisemitic hate crime.

By Shula Rosen

The suspected killer of an Orthodox Jewish dentist in San Diego was reportedly a former patient.

Dr. Benjamin Harouni, an Orthodox Persian Jew who ran a dental practice with his father, was gunned down on Friday in El Cajon, 15 miles from San Diego.

Two other people who worked at the Smile Plus Dentistry & Orthodontics clinic were injured in the shooting.

Local police arrested 29-year-old Mohammed Abdulkareem who reportedly fled the shooting in a white U-Haul rental pickup truck.

Police investigating the crime discovered that Abdulkareem was a former patient of the late Dr. Harouni.

A statement from the El Cajon police department said, “While the exact motive behind the shooting remains under investigation, it is believed that Abdulkareem was a disgruntled former customer.”

Currently, the motives of the killer are being investigated for possible antisemitism, although there is no indication yet that murder was an anti-Jewish hate crime.

Fabienne Perlov, regional director for Anti-Defamation League San Diego, said in a statement “ADL is aware of the tragic murder of a member of the Jewish community in El Cajon and feel the deepest sympathy for his family and the families of the other victims who were shot.”

Perlov continued, “We are in contact with law enforcement who share that currently, there is no indication of the murder being motivated by antisemitism.”

“ADL’s Center on Extremism has also not identified any extremist- or hate-related motivation behind the shootings at this point,” Perlov concluded.

Abdulkareem was apprehended armed with a handgun and several magazines which he purchased legally several weeks prior to the shooting.

The Harouni family has been quite active in the Jewish communities of San Diego and Sacramento, and have supported a Conservative, Modern Orthodox and Chabad synagogue.

“They are really God-fearing people,” Rabbi Mendy Cohen, of Chabad of Sacramento, told the Jewish World. “They love God, they give to the community, and (the murder) is devastating.”