Dallas police identified the shooter as 17-year-old Nykerion Nealon. A witness helped police identify the man.
Dallas Police Major Jeff Cotner thanked the media and the Muslim community for its help in identifying the shooter.
#Dallas PD Major Cotner releases information re: murder of Ahmed Al-Jumaili
Dallas police said an arrest has been made in the murder of Ahmed Al-Jumaili. Police will hold a news conference later on Friday.
Ahmed Al-Jumaili saw snow for the first time just moments before he was murdered in Dallas.
It was shortly before 11:40 p.m. Wednesday when Al-Jumaili, 36, stepped outside of his apartment with his wife and his brother, according to Dallas Police Major Jeff Cotner. Snow was falling, which Al-Jamaili — who was from Iraq — had never seen before. As Al-Jamaili posed with his brother, his wife took pictures.
Then shots rang out.
"I'm hit," Al-Jumaili cried, according Cotner.
Al-Jamaili ran back inside his apartment and was later rushed to the hospital, but "died shortly after midnight" on Thursday, Cotner reported Friday.
Al-Jumaili immigrated to the U.S. just weeks before his death.
Cotner said Al-Jamaili came to the U.S. "looking forward to the opportunities that our country provides." Alia Salem — from the Council of American-Islamic Relations — added Friday that Al-Jamaili had only been in the U.S. for 20 days at the time of the shooting.
He also came to be reunited with his wife. On a fundraising page set up after his death, a photo shows Al-Jamaili's wife Zahara holding a sign displaying the amount of time they spent apart.
According to the fundraising page, Zahara moved to Texas shortly after the couple married because she wanted to be in "a safer place." She also had family in Texas.
Al-Jamaili stayed behind "to continue working to save finances, until he could be reunited with his other half."
The killing remains unsolved, and police have implored the community to come forward with any relevant information.
Cotner said that just before the shooting, Al-Jamaili and his family saw "two to four black males enter the apartment complex" through a vehicle gate. The family did not interact with the men, and police do not know if they were residents of the apartment complex.
Police believe multiple shots were fired from a rifle, but beyond that investigators have "little information to go on," Cotner said.
On Saturday, police released surveillance video of suspects walking in the area near the shooting:
Investigators do not know if the shooting was a hate crime, Cotner said, or even if Al-Jamaili was shot on purpose.
"He may very well have been an unintended target," Cotner said.
Crime Stoppers has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment.
