Large crowds gather to pray on behalf of victims of Palmetto double slayings

TAMPA -- Inside a mosque at the Islamic Community of Tampa, hundreds of men and boys placed their heads, knees and hands on jade green carpet. In tight rows, they engaged in the Islamic funeral prayer for two slain Muslim brothers.

Women were in a separate building nearby with the victims' mother.

More than 1,200 people gathered Tuesday afternoon to recite prayers on behalf of Khasem Yousef, 23, and Faares Yousef, 17, who were shot dead between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m. Monday while working a holiday shift at their family's store, Snappy's Mart, 559 17th Street W., Palmetto.

Devin Chandler, 25, of Palmetto, was identified as the suspected shooter by Palmetto police early Tuesday and was apprehended at about 1 p.m. by the U.S. Marshal's Service Fugitive Task Force in a home in Tampa. Chandler was wanted on charges of two counts of murder and one count of armed robbery.

Murmurs permeated the mosque when news of Chandler's capture was announced by Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- Florida. He asked the crowd to please keep the victims' family in their thoughts.

"They were very much involved with this local mosque and the local community," Shibly said during a brief press conference Tuesday. "They were known for their charity and generous support of those in need... and I think a lot of people will be missing these two people."

Shibly said the Yousef brothers were young, hard-working individuals who were working to support their family and serve the community.

Hatem Fariz, manager of the Islamic Community of Tampa, said this was a "gruesome case."

"It's beyond understanding," Fariz said as he sat in his office early Tuesday afternoon. "This guy came in to rob the place. He could have left with the money. He decided to come back and shoot them both in the head, in the neck. It was sick, cold blooded murder."

Investigators say surveillance video shows Chandler making his way around the store, picking up a few items, and walking up to the counter as if to pay. Instead, he shot both brothers in the head. Police were alerted to the fatal shootings shortly after when they received a call from a customer who had walked in and found the brothers' bodies.

The medical examiner's office released the bodies of the Yousef brothers to the family at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, Fariz said. According to Islamic law (known as Sharia law), a body should be buried as soon as possible from the time of death.

Because of this, Fariz said the brothers' bodies were worked on from 5:30 a.m.-11 a.m., Tuesday to prepare them for the funeral service and burial.

Immediately following the funeral prayer, the bodies were transported to the cemetery.

Manatee High School principal Don Sauer was notified late Monday that one of the victims, Faares Yousef, was a senior at the school. The school district had additional counselors available for students, faculty and staff.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Faares. That also goes for our Manatee High family, the students and the staff, that he was involved with here at the school," Sauer said. "We are trying to look out for them and help in any way we can."

Two of the counselors followed the younger brother's school schedule Tuesday to let students in those classes know their services were available. Because the school is on a rotating block schedule, the counselors will follow the second half of his schedule Wednesday.

"Our young people, we don't know how they are going to react and so we will be here if they need us," Sauer said. "It's been up and down. I've had some students who have gone up to the grief counselors and I've had some students say that they didn't want to, that they wanted to be with their friends and class."

Sauer said the district was helpful in how they came together when faced with the tragedy coming off a holiday weekend.

"There is nothing as a leader that I can say that will take away any of this because no one will understand why it happened and for it to happen is just senseless," Sauer said.

Back in Tampa, Remah Ahmad sat at a bench outside the American Youth Academy with her daughter, Salam Ahmad after a caravan of vehicles left for the burial. Mother and daughter had joined in the prayer to show their support for the Yousef family. They are from the same hometown as the victims' family -- Silwad, in the Palestinian territories.

Remah, 44, said she hopes justice will be served in this case and that the person responsible will get punished.

"This family is a very nice family," she said. "They never hurt anyone."

During the funeral prayer, Remah said the mother of the Yousef brothers sat between their bodies. Everyone was crying, she recalled.

"She was talking to this one then she talks to the other one and it was so sad," Remah said, her voice coated in grief. "It was very emotional."

Amaris Castillo, Herald law enforcement/ island reporter, can be reached at 9451-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisCastillo.

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. Follow her on Twitter @JDeLeon1012.

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Large crowds gather to pray on behalf of victims of Palmetto double slayings."