The 86-year-old man senselessly gunned down in a shooter's random rampage through the city over the weekend was laid to rest on Monday.
Mourners, shocked that Hamoud Saeidi is gone, recited prayers as they escorted his body into a Brooklyn mosque. The family patriarch was well-known and beloved; his loved ones saying his death will leave a devastating impact.
“This person did not kill one person only, he did not kill my father only, he killed the whole community, my whole family," his son, Main Saeidi, said.
Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are
WATCH HEREThe great grandfather was shot and killed Saturday in what police have called a random shooting spree.
Surveillance video shows Saeidi walking on Jamaica Avenue near 108th Street when he is ambushed from behind by a gunman riding a scooter.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox with NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP "My father was a peaceful man, he was a good man, he helped everybody. All he wanted to do was go to the mosque and pray and that's when he got shot," his son said.
Thousands of mourners packed a mosque in Sunset Park to say goodbye and remember the man they described as generous and kind. Saeidi was a husband, father of six, grandfather to 30 and great grandfather to 31 children.
News
Mayor Eric Adams stopped by the funeral where he vowed to crack down on guns and illegally operated scooters.
“We have to get those things that harm innocent people off our streets,” the mayor said.
The suspect, 25 year old Thomas Abreu is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation as he faces murder and attempted murder charges. He was arraigned Monday on charges including murder and attempted murder, prosecutors said.
The man did not enter a plea. A message seeking comment was left with his attorney.
Abreu was arraigned in a hospital in five shootings that occurred in Queens over about 10 minutes late Saturday morning, a spokesperson for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. An additional person was shot and injured in Brooklyn.
Another victim shot in Queens was struck in the head when Abreu fired into a parked minivan and is in intensive care at a hospital, according to the criminal complaint, while a third victim was shot in the shoulder.
Prosecutors said Abreu shot at two other people in Queens and did not hit them. Abreu was arrested later Saturday based on witness statements and surveillance footage, they added.
Police have said they are not sure what the motive for the attack was.
