‘They were afraid of him’: Details of deadly dental office shooting revealed in court

The door to the dental office flew open. The shooting started.

The ambush lasted one minute, shot after shot after shot, at least 23 rounds, in multiple volleys, a prosecutor said in court Tuesday. An office manager was hit — his hand, his elbow, his torso. A staffer was shot, a bullet tearing through one of her legs and into the other. A dentist was shot several times, too. Some of the bullets came through a closed door. He would soon die.

The dentist and his staffers knew the suspected gunman, Deputy District Attorney John Philpott said. The attacker had been a “dissatisfied” patient, who over the course of months had repeatedly gone to the El Cajon office, “such that his behavior was erratic and they were afraid of him.”

Philpott revealed several new details of last week’s attack during a brief El Cajon Superior Court arraignment for Mohammed Abdulkareem, accused in the Feb. 29 shooting at Smile Plus Dentistry & Orthodontics.

A portrait of Benjamin Harouni is displayed at a candlelight vigil in front of El Cajon City Hall Sunday night.

(Caleb Lunetta/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Abdulkareem, 29, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and premeditated attempted murder. He faces well more than 100 years to life in prison if convicted.

During the hearing, Abdulkareem stood behind bars in a doorway just off the courtroom. He was barely visible, tucked mostly out of sight and shielded from view by his attorney.

Philpott’s recitation of the allegations drew muffled sobs from the audience in the packed courtroom, most of whom were there in support of the victims and their families.

Abdulkareem’s attorney did not offer any argument to the prosecutor’s request that Abdulkareem be held without bail. Judge Danna Nicholas granted the request, finding the defendant to be a flight risk and a danger.

Dentist Benjamin Harouni, who recently had turned 28, was killed, and two office staffers — a man in his 40s and a woman in her 20s — were wounded. Philpott said both staffers are expected to survive.

A DMV photo of Mohammed Abdulkareem

(El Cajon Police Department)

The slain dentist was Jewish, and several have questioned whether politics, religion or hate played a role. Philpott addressed those questions in court.

“At this juncture, there does not seem to be a motivation that would be one of hatred toward any race or religion,” the prosecutor said. But he cautioned that investigators “are going to continue to explore all evidence that may be leading to motives of what happened in this particular situation.”

NBC San Diego reported that the wife of one of the surviving victims said that Abdulkareem was unhappy with dental work done at the office. Since 2022, the station reported, her husband would intercept Abdulkareem at the door and steer him away from the office and patients.

She said her husband, the office manager, was shot several times and survived by playing dead.

According to Philpott, Abdulkareem has no prior criminal record. He acquired the gun five days before the attack.

The prosecutor said the gunman had rented a U-Haul pickup, and he parked it in a lot adjacent to the dental office. He had backed in, nose “pointed toward the easiest access to the alley.”

Shortly after the shooting, police shared photos of the truck, which had been rented in San Diego but had Arizona license plates.

They also identified the suspected gunman as Abdulkareem, disseminated his DMV photo, said he was believed to be “armed and dangerous,” and asked people to contact police if they spotted him or the truck. About five hours after the shooting, someone did.

El Cajon police said someone called San Diego police about 9:10 p.m. after coming across the rented U-Haul near Sixth Avenue and Quince Street in Bankers Hill.

El Cajon police provided this image of a U-haul pickup the department said Mohammed Abdulkareem used to flee Feb. 29 shooting at Smile Plus Dentistry & Orthodontics.

(Uncredited / Associated Press)

San Diego officers found the truck empty but soon located Abdulkareem in the area. Authorities said he had with him a loaded handgun and several loaded magazines. Philpott said the gun was a semiautomatic.

After the hearing, Harouni’s parents and one of his brothers spoke to reporters. Harouni graduated dental school in 2022 and worked in the office for about a year and a half.

“The loss is something I cannot explain,” mother Hilda Harouni said. “And it really feels like there is a hole in my heart. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

She said she wants justice. “But I feel sorry for him (the gunman) because this act of violence has taken an angel from us. It’s just there’s no replacement. He’s gone.”

Harouni’s father, Jack Harouni, also a dentist, said he is pleased authorities are “collaborating with each other to determine the motive of this brutal act, and I’m confident that justice will be served.”

He also said he is “hoping to spread the message of love and peace and compassion.”

“I think more of that hopefully will push the darkness of hate and evil out of our way,” he said. “And if we can achieve that, that would be great, so his brutal death would not be in vain.”