TULALIP, Wash. — A 40-year-old member of the Tulalip Tribe has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for shooting a friend in the back of the head during an argument four years ago.
On May 28, 2022, court records say the victim and Abdul Zahir were working in a detached garage when Zahir’s cousin was complaining about the noise the victim was making. As the victim walked towards Zahir’s cousin, Zahir pulled out a gun and fired three shots, killing the victim, court records say.
Court records say Zahir refused to try to help the victim or call 911. The victim was unarmed.
“This was a completely senseless crime – Mr. Zahir used a homemade firearm to shoot the victim in the back of the head, the heart and shoulder during nothing more than a verbal altercation,” said First Assistant Neil Floyd. “The defendant’s lengthy criminal history – including firing a gun during a robbery at a Costco warehouse and a prior ten-year federal sentence for drug trafficking, mandate significant prison time to protect the community.”
According to court records, Zahir was a convicted felon and should not have had a weapon.
Most of the guns found at his home were self-manufactured “ghost guns,” records say.
Zahir was also actively selling fentanyl pills, records said.
At the time of the shooting, Zahir was facing charges in King County Superior Court: attempted robbery, illegal possession of a firearm, and possession of a stolen vehicle. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Zahir will plead guilty to those charges, and the state prosecutor will recommend that the sentence in state court run concurrently with Zahir’s sentence in federal custody.
He was sentenced to 17 years federally.
A judge also imposed five years of supervised release to follow the prison sentence.
“Mr. Zahir ruthlessly killed an unarmed victim by shooting him multiple times at close range, all because of an argument,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “No sentence can ever bring back the life Zahir so needlessly took. However, it is our hope this sentence sends a message that the FBI and our law enforcement partners take violent crime seriously, both on tribal lands and throughout Washington state, especially those who have failed to learn their lesson from prior offenses.”
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