The elderly Queens man shot dead by a scooter rider on a random spree in Queens loved to walk through his neighborhood and never feared being out and about, his devastated longtime friend told the Daily News.
Hamod Ali Saeidi, 87, walked several miles every day, checking in on family and friends. Saturday would have been no different — if not for the maniac who opened fire at a half dozen locations as he rode through Queens and Brooklyn, killing Saeidi and wounding three others.
“He was walking all the time. He always used to tell me he was so proud to walk: ‘I’m doing three miles a day. I’m doing four miles a day,’ and so on and so forth,’” said Avraham Gaon, 60, who lived next door to Saeidi for the past 30 years in Richmond Hill.
“He used to like it here because it was safe. As I say — was.’”
Shocking surveillance footage obtained by the Daily News shows Saeidi’s final moments on Jamaica Ave. at 109th St., where the killer rolled up behind him and shot him in the back as he walked unaware on the sidewalk.
Saeidi struggled to stand as blood soaked the front and back of his shirt, then doubled over and collapsed as a bystander moved in to help him, the video shows.
Accused shooter Thomas Abreu, 25, was arrested on Sutphin Blvd. about two hours later. He was charged with murder and attempted murder.
Gaon said his neighbor’s violent end left the neighborhood rattled and that over the past 30 years the two developed a bond that transcended their backgrounds.
“He really was one of the most amazing people I’ve seen. He was a Muslim. I’m a Jew. And we were like brothers,” Gaon said. “He helped one time my daughter and another girl. Somebody tried to put them in a car so he started yelling at them. They ran away. That’s years ago, almost 30 years ago.”
Saeidi hailed from Sana’a in Yemen, his neighbor said.
“We got to…
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