Inset: Naqibullah Habibzoi talking in a TikTok video (@khosti2002/TikTok). Background: The 9100 block of Dartbrook Drive in San Antonio, Texas, where Naqibullah Habibzoi allegedly shot and killed Awal Noor Kiftan (WLTX).
A Texas man shot and killed one of his former coworkers over a $31,000 debt that the victim owed him, then started talking trash about it on TikTok — helping lead investigators straight to him, according to police.
Naqibullah Habibzoi, 23, of Houston, was arrested Thursday by San Antonio police and charged with murder for the May 31 shooting death of Awal Noor Kiftan outside his Northwest Side apartment, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Habibzoi”s arrest affidavit, which was obtained by the local newspaper, details how he allegedly took to social media after blowing Kiftan away with multiple gunshot wounds and boasted about what happened. His account and username, @khosti2002, was confirmed by police and the Express-News — with it still being active as of Sunday afternoon.
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“If you do something bad to us, something bad will happen to you,” Habibzoi allegedly wrote in one post, according to police. “We never move on without taking our revenge,” he allegedly said in another, per the Express-News.
Habibzoi also allegedly confessed in a phone call obtained by police investigators, during which he bragged about how “he finished him” — Kiftan — over the debt that he allegedly owed.
“Swears he did it with his hands,” the affidavit said about Habibzoi’s alleged phone comments. “His heart is pleased and satisfied,” the document adds.
Naqibullah Habibzoi’s alleged TikTok profile that helped cops catch him, according to police (@khosti2002/TikTok).
Phone records show Habibzoi traveling from Houston to San Antonio on the day of Kiftan’s murder. Officers responded to Kiftan’s apartment in Bexar County at around 11 p.m. and found him dead outside. A friend told police they were at his residence with Kiftan when someone called him over the phone and told Kiftan to come outside, that a woman was there to meet him for an undisclosed reason.
When Kiftan exited his apartment, Habibzoi allegedly shot him dead.
Cops say Habibzoi went back to Houston after the shooting and began posting on TikTok, which helped lead investigators to him after the social media content was sent to police.
Local CBS affiliate WLTX reports that multiple posts have since been deleted, including one that featured a photo of Kiftan that Habibzoi — who has over 20,000 followers — shared with users. It’s unclear how many followers Habibzoi had before the shooting.
According to WLTX, Habibzoi put up several posts saying his account had been hacked and that he was being framed. Police say evidence that they have collected says otherwise, including license plate readings that show his vehicle traveling back and forth from Houston to San Antonio on the day Kiftan was shot.
Jail records viewed by Law&Crime show Habibzoi being held at the Bexar County Jail without bail. He is charged with murder.
