Iranian Musician Kills Indie Band Members in New York

Members of indie band the Yellow Dogs, (left to right) Soroush Farazmand, Koory Mirz, Siavash Karampour and Arash Farazmand are shown at The Gutter bowling alley in Williamsburg neighbourhood in New York in 2011, in this picture released to Reuters on November 11, 2013. An Iranian rock musician shot dead three people, including two members of the Yellow Dogs, and wounded a fourth man before killing himself in Brooklyn, authorities said on Monday. Victims Soroush and Arash Farazmand, who were brothers, were the guitarist and drummer in the band that formed in Iran and performed covertly before its members sought political asylum in the United States in 2010, their publicist Ashley Ayers said. The suspected gunman, whose identity police had not confirmed, was an Iranian musician in another band and knew the Yellow Dogs from Tehran before they had a falling out, Ayers said. (Reuters Photo)

New York. An Iranian musician allegedly opened fire on members of an Iranian rock band in New York overnight, murdering three men and wounding a fourth before killing himself, police said Monday.

News reports said at least two of the deceased were brothers who belonged to the Yellow Dogs, an indie group that was formed in 2006 in Tehran and who came to the United States three years ago.

The musicians were found dead in a three-story Brooklyn building where the band reportedly lived and rehearsed.

Police said the shooter was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on the roof next to a rifle.

Officers were called after multiple shots were fired inside the building on Maujer Street in East Williamsburg shortly after midnight, police said.

A 22-year-old man was rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds in his right arm but is in a stable condition, police said.

Three men were found dead in the house, a 27-year-old man shot in the chest on the second floor and two other men, one of them 35 years old, shot in the head on the third floor.

No age was given for the third victim or the shooter, and New York police did not comment further on the men’s identities.

A spokesman initially said the victims appeared to have been members of the band.

New York police commissioner Ray Kelly was later quoted by local media as saying the shooter appeared to have been an Iranian-American musician, possibly from another band.

Yellow Dogs described itself as a dance-punk-psychedelic band and they perform in English, playing at notable venues on the circuit in New York and providing warm up for other acts.

Fans took to the band’s Facebook page to express shock and grief.

“What the hell! I’m still in shock. Can’t wrap my head around this tragedy,” wrote Faranak Karimpour.

“Horrible what’s happened to you. RIP,” said Roberta Rodriguez.

East Williamsburg is noted for its bohemian artists, middle class families looking to buy, students and recent immigrants.

Three members of the band spoke of the troubles they had faced in Iran and their joy at living in New York on a video interview recorded last year and posted on YouTube.

“We want to travel and play music. That’s actually our passion I think,” said singer and guitarist known as Obash.

They met as teenagers and started playing as a hobby, but feared for their safety after taking part in a 2009 documentary about Iran’s underground music scene that won an award at Cannes.

The Islamic republic considers rock music against Islam.

The band said they used to soundproof their room in Tehran as well as they could but admitted they were lucky not to have been caught during performances for their friends.

“Brooklyn, I feel I fit in perfectly. You don’t feel like a foreigner in New York City at all,” Obash said on the video.

Unable to go back to Iran, they also spoke sadly about how their parents had never seen them play.

Agence France-Presse