Prosecutors say the same defendant killed four people in two western New York communities on June 1.

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A Cheektowaga man accused of killing his wife, two young sons and a Buffalo store clerk has been indicted on first- and second-degree murder charges in a four-death case that stunned two western New York communities.

Saleh Q. Mohamed, 29, was arraigned June 15 before State Supreme Court Justice Deborah A. Haendiges on three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder. Prosecutors say the charges cover a June 1 sequence that began at a Buffalo store and ended inside a family home on Ellen Drive in Cheektowaga. Mohamed is being held without bail. He has not been convicted, and prosecutors said he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The indictment gave the case a new procedural center after police first handled it as two violent scenes about an hour and several miles apart. Buffalo police were called at about 2:38 p.m. June 1 to a store on the 1000 block of Grant Street near Military Road for a reported shooting. Officers found Shukri Muthana, 43, of Lackawanna, dead at the scene. About 52 minutes later, at roughly 3:30 p.m., Cheektowaga police went to a residence on Ellen Drive after a 911 call. Inside, officers found Mohamed’s wife, 26-year-old Aaisha Abdulla, and the couple’s two boys, ages 4 and 3, dead. Prosecutors say all four deaths were intentional killings.

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane said investigators connected the Buffalo and Cheektowaga cases quickly. “They’re definitely connected,” Keane said when discussing the two scenes. He said the defendant was charged in both cases and that police were still sorting out the relationship among the people involved. Officials have said Mohamed, Abdulla, the children and Muthana were part of the same Yemeni community, but they have not publicly confirmed what link, if any, tied Mohamed directly to Muthana beyond the allegation that Mohamed killed him. The two children’s names were not released by prosecutors, though local reporting identified them as Youssef and Saif.

The Cheektowaga discovery came after a welfare check, according to police accounts. Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons said officers first found no one answering at the house. “No one was answering the door at the house,” Coons said. “He arrived shortly thereafter.” Police said Mohamed returned to the home while officers were already there. He was taken into custody without incident, authorities said. A neighbor later described hearing what sounded like several sharp pops before screams broke out nearby. The woman compared the sound to a nail gun and said the street turned chaotic moments later. Police have not released a complete timeline of what happened inside the home before officers arrived.

Officials said a 9 mm handgun was tied to the shootings. Keane said Mohamed had a firearm permit and a 9 mm pistol on that permit. “He does have a permit,” Keane said. “He does have a firearm on the permit. It’s a 9 millimeter pistol, handgun.” Police said the family had not been a prior focus for the department. Coons said officers had not been called to the Ellen Drive home before the deaths. “This was our first time dealing with them,” he said. That lack of earlier police contact left investigators with few public warning signs to discuss in the first briefings after the killings.

The legal path shifted several times in the first two weeks. Mohamed was first arraigned late June 1 in Cheektowaga Town Court before Justice John J. Wanat on one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder tied to the deaths of Abdulla and the children. The next day, he was arraigned in Buffalo City Court before Judge Erin Hart on one count of second-degree murder in Muthana’s death. At that stage, prosecutors said additional charges could be filed. By June 15, a grand jury indictment had brought all four alleged killings into a higher-court case with expanded murder counts.

The case also moved through two courtrooms because the killings were alleged in two jurisdictions. In Cheektowaga, the family deaths fell under town police and local court proceedings at the start. In Buffalo, the store shooting was handled by city police and Buffalo City Court. The indictment moved the case to State Supreme Court, where prosecutors from the Erie County District Attorney’s Office Homicide Bureau took the lead. Assistant District Attorneys Justin H. Caldwell and Frank A. Strano are prosecuting the case with assistance from Deputy District Attorney Eugene T. Partridge III. The district attorney’s office credited Cheektowaga and Buffalo investigators for the work that led to the indictment.

The courtroom atmosphere reflected the public anger around the case. At a June 5 appearance, the proceedings were sent toward higher court after references to grand jury action. A person in the courtroom shouted as Mohamed was brought before the judge and was removed by court officers. Mohamed appeared under heavy security. Outside the legal filings, community leaders described grief and confusion, especially because two small children and a family home were at the center of the case. Dr. Khalid Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, called it an “unbelievably sad occasion” for the community.

Records released so far do not give a motive. Officials have not said why the store clerk was shot or what, if anything, happened between Mohamed and his family in the hours before police arrived. The 911 call that sent Cheektowaga officers to the home has not been fully described in public. Investigators also have not released the full path Mohamed is accused of taking between Buffalo and Cheektowaga or whether any surveillance video, phone records or ballistic evidence will be used in court. Those details are expected to emerge through hearings, filings or trial testimony if the case continues toward trial.

If convicted of the highest counts, Mohamed faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. His next listed court date is a pretrial conference scheduled for July 8, 2026, at 2 p.m. He remains jailed without bail while the homicide case proceeds.

Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.