A Virginia man who previously served as an interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan was fatally shot this week working as a rideshare driver in Washington DC.
Nasratullah Ahmadyar, 31, was shot and killed on Monday while driving for Lyft, WUSA 9 reported. He had worked as an interpreter with the army special forces, but left Afghanistan on the last flight out of the country during the US withdrawal in 2021.
Ahmadyar had immigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife and their four children, aged between 15 months and 13. But after experiencing violence in Philadelphia, the family moved to Alexandria, Virginia, a few months ago “in pursuit of a better life”, according to a Facebook page raising funds for Ahmadyar’s funeral expenses. He was the sole provider for his family.
Ahmadyar was discovered in his vehicle after midnight on Monday with a single gunshot wound, according to police. He was taken to hospital, but pronounced dead “after all life-saving efforts failed”, said police, NBC News reported.
Police are currently looking for four suspects seen on surveillance video. In the video, it appears one of the suspects is telling the other they killed Ahmadyar. Authorities have offered $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest, CNN reported.
Relatives and friends of Ahmadyar say he was first a tow-truck driver and then a rideshare driver, and often drove up to 12 hours a day to provide for his family.
On the night Ahmadyar was killed, he told his wife he had to work because the rent was due. “His wife asked him to stay home but he said, ‘I have to pay rent. I don’t have that much money. I have to work,” said Rahim Amini, Ahmadyar’s best friend, to WUSA 9.
“I can’t emphasize enough how he was always helping,” said his friend Jeramie Malone said. “Leaving the house was very dangerous for him, but he was always eager to help somebody else who is a good guy. His children were the most important thing to him, and he brought them here so he could be safe.”
According to two people who knew Ahmadyar in Afghanistan, he had started working at the Bagram air base in Kabul when he was 10 or 11, the Washington Post reported. There he learned English and became an interpreter.
In a statement to the Guardian, Lyft said: “Our hearts are with Mr Nasrat’s loved ones as they confront this unspeakable tragedy. We have reached out to his family to offer our support and are in contact with law enforcement to assist with their investigation.”
