Mount Airy reeling after woman, teen neighbor killed

Her estranged husband opened fire on homes for unknown reasons, police say

Onanormal day, Noah Homayouni might have been in class anticipating another day of practice on the lacrosse field. Heather Zujkowski, mother of three, might have been working to develop a playground.

Instead, they were both following the governor’s stay-at-home order, next door to each other, when — according to police — Zujkowski’s estranged husband opened fire in front of their Mount Airy homes, killing them both.

Zujkowski, 36, was a mother of three — ages 4, 6 and 11 — who were in her Bennett Branch Road home when she was killed. She was 36.

Homayouni, 18, a senior at South Carroll High School, planned to continue playing lacrosse at the college level.

The two were shot by Joseph Zujkowski of Gaithersburg with a rifle for unknown reasons, police say. Heather was married to Joseph, but the two were separated. He killed himself at home after a brief stand-off.

Mount Airy, already reeling from a coronavirus outbreak at the Pleasant View Nursing Home about a mile away, now struggles with another tragedy.

“Horribly tragic situation to have a young mother with three children and then a South Carroll High School student, Noah. It’s terrible, the kids are now orphaned,” said Mount Airy Mayor Patrick Rockinberg.

Their deaths comes as six nursing home residents have died from the COVID-19 illness. County officials said that they’ve confirmed cases in 77 residents and 24 staff members at the nursing home about a mile away from the shooting scene.

“The community’s heartbroken,” Rockinberg said. “It’s sad and we did expect it to hit our neighborhood, we knew we wouldn’t be immune to it, but we didn’t expect it to hit that hard. We’re deeply saddened and we just pray for everybody up there.”

According to Rockinberg, Zujkowski worked closely with the town.

“Heather was working with the town and Councilwoman Pam Reed on an all-inclusive playground, so we all know her very well,” he said. “Heather was very sweet and kind. You could see the love she had for her children.”

Reed said in an interview that Zujkowski approached the town a few years ago advocating for a place where one of her sons, who is disabled, could play.

“There isn’t anything negative anyone could say about her, she’s very sweet,” Reed said. “She’s always willing to volunteer her time, whatever it took related to this project, whether it was hours of grant writing, hours of meetings sort of planning the playground. She was a very generous person.”

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office is working to determine a motive for the shooting, Sheriff Jim DeWees said Friday.

“We are still trying to develop a motive for the shooting, particularly why he shot Noah Homayouni. We’ve seized several cellphones in hopes they will give us some indication to what may have gone tragically wrong,” the sheriff said. “It will take some time to download and recover the data on those devices.”

DeWees said the shooter fired “upward of 30 rounds,” many into parked cars at Homayouni’s house. Homayouni appeared to be trying to get inside when shot, then ran to a neighbor’s property before collapsing, he said.

“We will do everything we can to find out why this happened and what led up to this horrible event,” DeWees said.

The South Carroll lacrosse team, the Cavaliers, tweeted Friday afternoon about their loss.

“Together, we grieve the loss of our fellow Cavalier. Although our circumstances prevent us from being together, know that you are not alone. We are here for you,” the post said.

Homayouni playe last spring as an attackman, and finished the season with 25 goals and 21 assists as the Cavaliers went 9-7.

A teammate described Homayouni as being all about lacrosse.

“Noah, he was probably the most hardworking kid I’ve ever met in my whole life,” said South Carroll senior Dylan O’Neill. “All he did all day was lacrosse. Lifting outside the school to get better every day. He was very determined to be the best he could.”

Tim Novotny, South Carroll’s athletic director, said the school is working to make counseling services available.

Novotny said options are being discussed for ways to honor Homayouni despite the coronavirus restrictions.

Reed said one way to honor Zujkowski could be completing the playground she pushed for before her death.

“Her main focus was seeing this playground through. So, even more so now, we need to make sure that it happens. We obviously need to continue our fundraising and our grant efforts, if not for anything, in honor of Heather and how much she cared about the project.”