Three brothers held over teenage shopper shot in ‘botched drive-by killing’
THREE brothers who own a car tyre shop were being quizzed by detectives last night over a teenage law student’s murder.
Aya Hachem, 19, was hit by a single stray bullet to the chest while shopping for her family last Sunday.
It is feared gunmen in a passing Toyota Avensis were aiming for the nearby Quick Tyre and Quick Shine car wash but missed, hitting Aya as she passed.
Now three brothers who own R1 tyres next to the car wash, who were allegedly feuding with the valeting firm in Blackburn, have been arrested for alleged murder.
Feroz, 39, Suhayl, 36, and Nadeem Suleman, 33, were seized by armed police on Monday at their garage.
They appeared before magistrates on Wednesday and police were granted a warrant of further detention for 36 hours.
Two other men aged
31 and 35, were arrested on suspicion of murder and a third man, 29, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Meanwhile, police said two women, aged
19 and 26, were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
That brings the number of arrests over the Salford University student’s fatal shooting to nine after officers recovered an abandoned Toyota.
Within hours of the killing, police stressed Aya was not the intended target of the daylight attack near a Lidl supermarket.
The Lebanese-born teenager, the eldest of four siblings, had been shopping for her family.
It is understood her body will now be flown to Lebanon for her burial. She and her father, Ismail Hachem, arrived in Britain 10 years ago, looking for safety as asylum seekers.
Ismail had been shot in crossfire in Lebanon and moved his family to England hoping for a new, peaceful life. He gained British citizenship last year. Family friend Luky Hussein said the shooting brought back the horrors of war for Ismail.
He added: “They fled Lebanon over the war with people threatening to kill him and now his daughter gets shot. This is history repeating itself. I’m sure it brings it all back for him. He’s got a bullet mark in his back. He got caught in crossfire.”
Detective Superintendent Andy Cribbin said: “Our determination to find who was responsible for the death of Aya continues.
“I would stress again we are not treating the shooting as terrorismrelated or a racially-motivated.” Aya’s former headteacher at Blackburn Central High School, Diane Atkinson, said: “She was a very intelligent young lady who quickly picked up English and worked incredibly hard to become the very best person she could be.”