GUEST COLUMN: Learning From Tragedy: Samir and Moez

In the very early morning hours of August 14th, the Senior class came very close to losing one of our own. I was beside my housemate and close friend Samir Shah, an outgoing Wharton senior, when he was shot at point blank range on the steps outside 3946 Pine Street. Almost as tragic and unbelievable as this terrible event is the lack of accurate, prompt reporting surrounding the whole incident. Out of respect for Samir and concern for the safety of everybody here at the University, I want to set the record straight. The first thing that needs to be made clear is that Samir did nothing to bring this upon himself. So many people ask me why we "refused" to hand over our money to someone with a handgun. What everyone doesn't realize is that this was never really an option in our case. The two men who approached us did inquire as to whether or not we had any money, but their friendly tone and casual attitude made us feel comfortable enough to honestly admit that we had spent all our cash at the Maui nightclub earlier that night. We certainly had no idea that these bastards were armed and dangerous until it was too late. We were already on the steps of our friend's apartment (we had emerged from his car not five feet from the door) when one of the men suddenly decided that we were lying and grabbed Samir's shirt. As Samir instinctively pushed the hands away, the assailant's companion pulled a pistol out of his shirt and immediately shot my housemate. The whole incident couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, and Samir was writhing on the steps before he knew what hit him. The other thing I need to clarify is the appearance of these men. Almost everyone I speak to wants to believe that these guys were in some way distinguishable as trouble waiting to happen. The DP even went so far as to print that we were approached by two "masked" men. Nothing could be further from the truth. These guys were well-dressed and could easily have passed as seniors or grad students. Their friendly demeanor only reinforced my initial belief that perhaps they were acquaintances of one of my companions. There was no indication that the strangers were any different than you or I or any more likely to commit such a deadly assault. We had no advance warning. In stark contrast to these facts are the surprisingly sparse and over-dramatized press accounts of the assailants and the flow of events. This irresponsibility has made it easy for students to feel assured that this was a preventable, distant event. Everyone in the University community must know that this was a totally random, intensely brief, and absolutely uncontrollable encounter from the viewpoint of the position in which we found ourselves. I hope this drives home the point to everyone that this could happen to any one of you at any time. You must never forget the inherent risk of this university and its environs at night. I will always wonder whether or not the publishing of this account would have in any way helped to prevent the senseless murder of Al-Moez Alimohammed, which occurred shortly after our incident on the same street. If The Philadelphia Inquirer, a newspaper which I have always admired, had done a professional job of reporting such a serious incident (I was given the impression that their interest would peak if Samir passed away in the hospital), then perhaps he would have had the slight extra awareness that I hope I've passed on to all of you. Instead, the Inquirer chose to add as an after-thought to the coverage of his tragic death that Penn undergrad Samir Shah had been stabbed somewhere in the vicinity only weeks before. I don't know and don't really care whether the fault lies with the police reports or faulty reporting. All that matters now is that Samir pulled through and should be back among his classmates and friends soon. I sincerely hope that his misfortune can somehow be everyone else's gain here at Penn. Let it be a powerful reminder to do your best to watch your ass out there and never think that it can't happen to you. Samir once thought that too. Mark Filipini is a senior International Relations and Economics major from Pittston, Pennsylvania.