Attorney: Texas man accused of killing his 3 children previously threatened to kill himself

Texas father accused of killing his 3 children

HOUSTON — A Texas father accused of shooting his three children to death as they slept had previously threatened to kill or hurt himself if he lost visitation rights, an attorney said.

After Mohammed Goher’s two daughters, ages 14 and 7, and a 12-year-old son were killed Sunday, authorities said Goher shot himself in the mouth in an apparent suicide attempt. He was in fair condition Monday at Ben Taub Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Goher was charged with three counts of capital murder, said Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Jamie Wagner. It was unknown whether he had an attorney.

He is divorced from the children’s mother, Norma Goher, but had court-ordered visitation rights, according to the statement. Records show he was convicted in 2006 of beating his wife, who lived in a shelter for battered women.

The father’s visitation rights were to be the subject of a court hearing in Houston later this month. Syed Izfar, appointed by the court to represent the children in the hearing, told the Houston Chronicle he was going to suggest Goher receive standard visitation.

“There was no indication that he would hurt the children,” Izfar told The Associated Press on Monday.

On Friday, as had been the custom since the Gohers separated, the children went to stay with their father at his apartment, which is attached to a convenience store where Goher worked, about three miles south of Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.

He was to have returned them Sunday afternoon to their mother, who had custody of the children during the week, authorities said.

“By all appearances, this was a man who loved his children. What a nightmare,” Izfar told the Chronicle. “He had it in his mind that the children would be taken away from him forever.”

The 47-year-old father had threatened to kill or hurt himself if he lost visitation, Izfar said.

On Sunday morning as the children slept, Goher got out a handgun, authorities said. Harris County Homicide Sgt. Ben Beall told the Chronicle that Goher shot one of the girls in a bedroom and his son and other daughter who were asleep in another room. Then, Beall said, Goher shot himself.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s office, Goher was expected to survive.

A family friend visiting from Pakistan reported seeing Goher with a handgun and fled the apartment, the Chronicle reported. Neighbors did not return telephone messages left by The Associated Press.

One neighbor, Julio Rodriguez, told the Chronicle that he dialed 911 after a woman screamed, “Gun! Gun! Shoot! Shoot!”

“I got scared because I knew there were kids in there,” Rodriguez said.

Muhommad Riaz, Goher’s co-worker at the convenience store, told the Chronicle he had spoken with Goher on Saturday and found him to be upset over the upcoming court date and the fear of losing his visitation rights.

Goher said “everyone was lying” about him having a violent temper, Riaz told the newspaper.

Information from: Houston Chronicle, www.houstonchronicle.com