{"id":120754,"date":"2025-09-05T02:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T02:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/120754\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T02:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T02:06:07","slug":"man-gunned-down-in-kleinberg-home-invasion-laid-to-rest-as-family-friends-call-for-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/120754\/","title":{"rendered":"Man gunned down in Kleinberg home invasion laid to rest as family, friends call for justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many gathered today as Abdul Aleem Farooqi was laid to rest. Farooqi, a father of four was killed protecting his family during a home invasion in Vaughan, Ont. <\/p>\n

Huge crowds of mourners came together Wednesday night at a mosque in Vaughan and Thursday morning at a cemetery in Kleinberg to pay their respects to and remember Aleem Farooqi, a 46-year-old father of four and small businessman fatally gunned down over the weekend during a home invasion.<\/p>\n

Friends of the victim say he was shot when he stepped in<\/a> after intruders pointed a gun at his daughters. The deadly incident happened on Aug. 31 shortly before 1 a.m. and the suspects are still at-large.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an emotional (past) few days. (I\u2019ve been) reflecting on his final moments, what his children have gone through, what his wife is going through,\u201d friend Adil Malik shared of Farooqi, who was a beloved member of the local Ahmadiyyah community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe died in the way of God. He died protecting his family,\u201d another friend added.<\/p>\n

Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca was among the funeral attendees.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust knowing that it\u2019s a family that\u2019s been shattered by this senseless crime is really beyond belief. It\u2019s remarkable to see the community rallying around the family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Baitul Islam Mosque was beyond capacity last night as many worshippers bowed their heads outside and later lined up in front of Farooqi\u2019s casket following the final prayer to say good-bye and support the man\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\"\"Funeral mourners Aleem Farooqi Hundred of mourers gathered at Vaughan’s Baitul Islam Mosque for the funeral service for Aleem Farooqi on Sept. 3. <\/p>\n

His brother Naeem was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard everything in between \u2026 from the days when he was a kid, a teenager, an adult, a newly married man, a new father. It just tells you the story of a person who is really devoted to his community and touched so many lives in such a short time,\u201d he said, imploring the \u201ccowards\u201d responsible for his brother\u2019s death to \u201cturn themselves in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have faith in our justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Naeem Farooqi Naeem Farooqi, brother of Kleinberg murder victim Aleem Farooqi, speaks outside his funeral on Sept. 3. <\/p>\n

Farooqi was buried on Thursday at Nashville Cemetery in Kleinberg, with friends and family members taking turns shoveling earth onto his casket.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis man would genuinely not hurt a fly. \u2026 Anytime anyone needs help in the community, he\u2019d be the first one to be there,\u201d Tayyab, another friend, told CTV News Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shouldn\u2019t happen in Canada. \u2026 He was a great guy. It was random. It could have been any of us. Unfortunately, it happened to the best of the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday was the third day of mourning, which is in line with the Ahmadiyya Muslim custom. Following the burial, friends and relatives gathered at the Farooqi family home.<\/p>\n

\"\"Aleem Farooqi burial Murder victim Aleem Farooqi was buried in Kleinberg on Sept. 4. <\/p>\n

A crowdfunding page<\/a> started by the man\u2019s family to raise money for his teenage son and three young daughters has so far raised upwards of $25,000.<\/p>\n

Police, meanwhile, are stressing that they believe what occurred was a robbery, that Farooqi was targeted only for money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe officers are working diligently to bring those to justice, but, I\u2019ll leave it there for now until we have an actual investigative update that I can share,\u201d York Regional Police Chief Jim McSween said.<\/p>\n

This investigation is ongoing and anyone with further information is asked to contact York Regional Police\u2019s Homicide Unit at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7865, or homicide@yrp.ca<\/a>, or Crime Stoppers anonymously.<\/p>\n

\"\"Aleem Farooqi home Police are investigating after a 46-year-old man was fatally shot in his Kleinberg home on Aug. 31. <\/p>\n

With files from CTV News Toronto\u2019s Jon Woodward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many gathered today as Abdul Aleem Farooqi was laid to rest. Farooqi, a father of four was killed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-120754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}