Yellow Dogs Survivng Band Members Release Statement Expressing Their Grief And Disbelief

Siavash Karampour and Koory Mirzeai of the Yellow Dogs escaped a fatal shooting that killed two of their bandmates and another musician who toured with them. Both members say they are stricken with grief and do not know where to go from here, the Associated Press reported.

The surviving members released a statement on Wednesday stating they are "paralyzed with grief," and are "still here, still breathing but with a gaping hole in our hearts."

The gunman, Ali Akbar Mohammadi Rafie, 29, had about 100 rounds of ammunition in five magazine inside a guitar case the night he murdered brothers Arash and Soroush Farazmand and touring vocalist Ali Eskandarian, the AP reported.

Investigators found 81 unfired rounds in the adjoined roof where Rafie left the guitar case, the AP reported. The assault weapon used was purchased in 2006 from a shop in upstate New York that has since closed down, according to the AP.

Rafie's roommate in Queens allowed investigators to search their apartment but no more weapons were found. Investigators did confiscate the shooters computer in an effort to obtain more information on where the gun came from and his motive, the AP reported.

The location of the shootings, an apartment in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was a daily hangout for friends and fellow musicians, according to the statement. The band lived and worked together after moving to the United States in 2010.

"For now, it's impossible to even manage a future without our friends, and no explanation can make sense or begin to justify what has happened in our lives," the statement said. "To say we are heartbroken does not come close."

"These are they darkest hours of our lives. We are in shock, awe, blinded with rage and paralyzed with grief," the surviving members wrote.

Rafie was in a band connected with the slain musicians called the "Free Keys" before they stopped working with him in 2012 due to "personal and musical differences," Pooya Hossein said in the statement. Hossein is a friend of the Yellow Dogs and a musician who was also a member of the Free Keys.

The transition between Tehran and New York was not without difficulties for Free Keys, whose bass player was unable to secure a visa in Iran. With shows already scheduled in New York, the band recruited a new member, Ali Akbar Mohammadi Rafie 'Rafi', before coming to the States. By the third show in May 2012, Free Keys decided to stop working with Rafi as a result of personal and musical differences. It became clear very quickly that he was not a natural fit within our group of friends, and his personal views conflicted with our approach to our art and to the world.

"It became clear very quickly that he was not a natural fit within our friends, and his personal views conflicted with our approach to art and to the world," Hossein said in the statement, adding that the Yellow Dog members had not spoken to Rafie in over 14 months.

Eskandarian had justt finished writing a memoir, Arash had just recieved political asylum and his brother,

Eskandarian, 35, had just finished his memoir. Arash Farazmand, 28, had just received political asylum and his brother, Soroush, was working on new band material, according to the statement.

"Everything we had hoped and worked for was finally coming true ... the future was so incredibly bright," adding that "All of that ended Sunday night."

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