Two brothers were found shot to death in the basement of their family-owned cigar shop in suburban Chicago leaving behind a family with many questions -- and investigators with few answers.
Evanston police were still looking for clues Wednesday morning after brothers Azim Hakeem, 38, and Mobeen Hakeem, 34, were found shot to death in the basement of the business at 923 Davis Street Tuesday night.
Family members told the Tribune they are observing the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and grew worried when the two men were not home at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to fast and didn't answer any phone calls.
The mother of the two men drove to the store to check on them shortly after 8 p.m. where she found the "open" sign still illuminated and the doors padlocked. The Sun-Times reports after the woman called authorities who later snapped the lock to enter the store, and found the men in the basement with "at least" one gunshot wound each.
"They were born here, they were raised here. In fact, they grew up here in this store," said the two men's uncle, Qudrat Syed. "They were loving brothers, taking care of their father, taking care of their business. Very beautiful kids."
Family members wondered who could have shot the brothers, telling CBS they were friendly with customers and well-liked.
“Me and my family are in a state of shock," Syed told CBS. "How come somebody can do this kind of thing, this crime, to these two, young, beautiful kids? We are deeply saddened about it.”
Police say there were no signs of a robbery and will continue to investigate.