Oakland Police Have Questions For A Woman Who Waited To Report Finding A Man Dead In Her Apartment

After finding a man dead in her first-floor unit, an Oakland woman reportedly waited up to half an hour before alerting authorities and the Oakland Police Department (OPD) wants to know why. Some time between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, the man was shot and left to die in the woman’s 23rd Avenue apartment.

But a neighbor who lives across the hall claims that he heard the woman screaming outside his door at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Not only did she decline the neighbor’s offer to help, she didn’t report the crime until around 1:00 p.m. Her behavior has raised many questions.

Channel 5 KPIX reported that upon making the discovery, the woman’s neighbor could hear her “panicking, screaming, and yelling” in the hallway. She asked her neighbor if he had heard anything the night before, but he told the woman that he was not at home. The man offered to help her, but she told him not to worry about it. She opted to call her mother instead before later contacting the police.

The victim has been identified as Rahim Muhammad. His older brother, Ali Muhammad, told the news outlet that he had never met the woman and had no idea why Rahim was in her apartment. Ali said that he had no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death. He said that he loves his brother and is just “trying to stay calm for the family.”

OPD’s preliminary investigation has seemingly left law enforcement with more questions than answers. They spoke with the woman at the scene reportedly for an hour. She was said to be noticeably shaken by the discovery and appeared to be emotional and agitated. The woman was taken into custody for questioning, but KPIX reported that as of Saturday, she was not a suspect in Rahim’s death.

Early reports did not reveal whether or not the woman knew Rahim, if she was at home when the murder took place, or if she was even aware that the man was in her apartment. However, the fact that none of the neighbors were alerted and that the woman didn’t call police right away is curious, to say the least.