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71-year-old man shot and killed during argument inside public library, Texas cops say

A 71-year-old man was fatally shot during an argument with a 33-year-old man inside a public library, Texas police said.
A 71-year-old man was fatally shot during an argument with a 33-year-old man inside a public library, Texas police said. Screengrab from GoFundMe organzied by Sarah Khaledi

An argument in a public library led to a deadly shooting that killed a 71-year-old man, Texas police said.

Vahid Khaledi, 71, was visiting the library on May 11 when he got into a verbal altercation with 33-year-old Humberto Paz, Brownsville police said. When police arrived, they found Khaledi with a gunshot wound to his head.

The argument allegedly broke out because Khaledi asked Paz to “keep it down,” Khaledi’s niece, Sarah, said in a Facebook post, though police have not confirmed the details that led up to the shooting.

“Vahid was like a Grandpa to all of his brother’s grandchildren and was a peaceful man,” his niece said in a GoFundMe page set up by his family. “He enjoyed reading anything and everything about current events and constantly spent time at the Brownsville library.”

Paz was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault, police said. His bail was set at $3.25 million.

The Brownsville Public Library Main Branch is closed until further notice, the city announced two days after the shooting. One public library branch remains open in Brownsville.

Brownsville is about a 275-mile drive south of San Antonio.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2024 at 4:16 PM with the headline "71-year-old man shot and killed during argument inside public library, Texas cops say."

Kate Linderman
mcclatchy-newsroom
Kate Linderman covers national news for McClatchy’s real-time team. She reports on politics and crime and courts news in the Midwest. Kate is a 2023 graduate of DePaul University and is based in Chicago.
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