A Levittown woman killed her estranged husband after abuse allegations and a custody dispute, police say
Sammar Khan shot Faisal Iqbal at point-blank range as the two argued in the middle of a crowded park in Bristol, according to prosecutors.
A Levittown woman killed her estranged husband at a public park in broad daylight Tuesday, police said, ending what court records and family members described as an abusive relationship.
Sammar Khan, 40, shot Faisal Iqbal multiple times with a 9mm handgun at Bristol Wharf, a waterfront park in the Bucks County borough, according to police. Multiple witnesses told investigators Khan and Iqbal, 38, were arguing loudly when gunshots rang out.
Iqbal walked toward the parking lot as he screamed for someone to call 911 and Khan continued to shoot at him, even after he collapsed into the grass, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in Khan’s arrest.
Khan remained at the park until police arrived, but called her boyfriend, the affidavit said. She told him she had killed Iqbal, and she needed him to pick up her son from the wharf.
Khan has been charged with murder, possession of an instrument of a crime, and reckless endangerment. She remained in custody Wednesday, denied bail.
Khan had successfully applied for a protection from abuse order against her husband in February 2022, alleging that he threatened her. Two months later, in April, Iqbal drove to Khan’s home and sat in a parked car outside, violating the order, court records show. A Bucks County judge sentenced Iqbal to two months in jail for violating the PFA and he served 23 days before being released again.
Sammar Khan’s brother, Imran Khan, said that his older sister often confided to him about how poorly Iqbal treated her. He said she told him that Iqbal berated and, sometimes, beat her.
“He gave her a lot of trouble, but I know she didn’t want to kill him,” Khan said. “It had to be self-defense, I know it. She was always thinking about her kids.”
The couple, married in 2009 in their native Pakistan, had three children together, and also raised a fourth child of Khan’s from a previous relationship.
Last month, Iqbal filed for divorce and for custody of the couple’s three biological children, a claim his lawyer, Iriana Blithstein, said was contested by Khan.
“He was looking forward to starting his life, and this happened,” Blithstein said of Iqbal.
Blithstein said Iqbal loved his children above all else. His slaying, she said, was a “tragedy beyond words.”