Houston Man Arrested After Online Threats and Digital Trail Lead Police to Fatal Shooting
SAN ANTONIO, TX – A TikTok content creator with a significant online following is now facing murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of his former coworker, an incident allegedly sparked by an unresolved $31,000 debt. Naqibullah Habibzoi, 23, of Houston, was arrested on August 21, accused of traveling to San Antonio to confront and ultimately kill Awal Noor Kiftan, 34, on May 31.
The Investigation Begins
The tragic event unfolded just before 11 p.m. on May 31, when emergency services responded to reports of a shooting outside Kiftan’s Northwest Side apartment in the 9100 block of Dartbrook Drive. Kiftan was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Fox San Antonio, a friend of Kiftan’s informed detectives that the victim had received a phone call to meet a woman outside his apartment shortly before gunshots rang out. The witness, hearing the shots, later discovered Kiftan unresponsive. The first name of the woman mentioned by the witness reportedly matched that of a woman connected to Habibzoi.
Investigators quickly turned their attention to Habibzoi, who boasts over 20,000 followers on TikTok. Court records, cited by the San Antonio Express-News, indicate that Kiftan and Habibzoi were former colleagues at a trucking company. It was through this past professional relationship that the alleged $31,000 debt originated.
Digital Footprint Leads to Suspect
Crucially, detectives uncovered a series of posts and comments on Habibzoi’s TikTok account that laid out a chilling digital trail. In these videos, he publicly accused Kiftan of owing him the substantial sum and even posted ominous statements such as, “We never move on without taking our own revenge.” While Habibzoi later attempted to distance himself from these posts, claiming his account had been hacked and even releasing a video in June with alleged evidence of the hack, his online activities formed a key part of the investigation.
The digital evidence deepened as authorities correlated Habibzoi’s online footprint with his physical movements. Call records and location data directly contradicted his alibi, revealing that he had traveled from his Houston residence to San Antonio on the very day Kiftan was killed. Further corroborating this, license plate readers detected his vehicle moving between the two Texas cities around the time of the murder, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
Alleged Confession and Charges
Perhaps most damning was a phone call obtained by investigators. According to an affidavit cited by the San Antonio Express-News, Habibzoi allegedly confessed to the shooting in a conversation with another man in Pashto, stating that someone was not giving him his money, so “he finished him.”
Habibzoi was formally charged with murder on August 21. The San Antonio Police Department has not yet provided additional comments on the ongoing investigation.
