A man who had been thrown out of his band shot dead three fellow Iranian rock musicians with an assault rifle before killing himself on the roof of a Brooklyn apartment block.
Police believe a guitar case found nearby may have been used to carry the weapon. Ali Akbar Mahammadi Rafie, 29, shot himself in the head after struggling with a member of his former band the Free Keys.
Rafie, 29, “was upset that he wasn’t in the band any more,” said New York police spokesman John McCarthy.
Police believe there had also been a row over money. Two of Rafie’s victims, Arash Farazmand, 28, and Soroush Farazmand, 27, were brothers and members of the Yellow Dogs, an indie band that came to the US three years ago.
The third person killed, Ali Eskandarian, 35, was a musician but not in the Yellow Dogs. Rafie fired through the window, killing Mr Eskandarian.
He shot Arash and Soroush in their bedrooms from a third-floor terrace.
Rafie and his former band mate from Free Keys struggled over the weapon, police said. He then went back to the roof and killed himself.