Fuaed Abdo Ahmed

Louisiana Muslim Fuaed Abdo Ahmed’s mind was slipping away from him. With each passing day, the voices in his head grew louder and his ability to distinguish reality from fantasy grew weaker. Then again, the line between fact and fiction had been blurred throughout Ahmed’s life, since he believed a violent 7th-century book of child porn and warfare called the Qur’an was real despite its wildly unbelievable stories. He prayed to one of the invisible voices in his head, the one named Allah to be precise, since the Qur’an had told him that one was real. As his mental state devolved, his thoughts grew darker, culminating in a terrifying and fatal hostage situation.

On Facebook, he began posting bizarre images and messages about dying free. His friends and neighbors also noticed a change in his behavior, with him flinging wild accusations which were obviously untrue. Neighbors had reported that he had been firing a rifle in his backyard, unusual behavior for Ahmed, but thought nothing of it. His Facebook cover photo looks like a Magic: the Gathering card or some other such nerdery, with the word “immortal” on it – perhaps he thought that he would live on after death if his death were pleasing to Allah. Considering where he had traveled just a few months before his attack, the question becomes – simple maniac, or “martyr”?

Ahmed blamed his ex for some of his insanity and accusing them of implanting a device in his head, according to a letter found in a parked car outside the bank. In that letter, he detailed what he was going to do and why – and also asked for safe passage to another country. He had just been to terrorist hotbed Yemen a few months earlier, shortly before his behavior and sanity took an apparent tailspin. If he wanted to get out of the US, he could’ve just gone back to Yemen. Either way, it didn’t have to end as it did.

Ahmed walked into the bank and drew his weapon. There were two women and a man inside. He made demands of the authorities by phone, including that they extract the “device” from his head. He claimed he just wanted the voices to be quiet. It in unknown whether he believed the voices to be Jinns, evil poop-eating spirits that Muslims claim can possess people. Apparently he thought that holding up a bank would make them go away instead of, you know, anti-psychotic medication, extensive counseling, and/or a tinfoil hat. Muslim logic at its finest right there. Ahmed was talked into releasing one of the female hostages, but the remaining two weren’t so lucky. He had brought a duffel bag with him, which contained a torture kit he planned to use on the terrified victims. As time passed, he grew more and more unhinged and unstable, according to the officers communicating with him by phone. Police recognized when they had to move in.

Ahmed shot both hostages as police entered, shooting and killing him. The male hostage died and the female is currently in critical condition.