HOUSTON -- A family asked for help Wednesday in finding the person or persons who killed a check-cashing van driver, KPRC Local 2 reported.

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Who Killed Check-Cashing Van Driver?:
Mariza Reyes Reports

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Houston police said Mohammad I. Mahmood, 67, was found dead in the back of a white van parked in the 8600 block of Clinton Drive at about 12:30 a.m. on July 8.

Mahmood worked for Mac's Check Cashing Services on Nimitz Street. Once every couple of weeks, he would go out to sites to cash payroll checks.

Police said Mahmood was likely targeted because he carried a large amount of cash. Relatives said Mahmood did not carry a weapon to protect himself.

Investigators said a group of men in a Ford Explorer and a Ford Taurus attacked Mahmood at a warehouse and business complex in the 1900 block of Turning Basin Drive at about 3:15 p.m. on July 7. He was scheduled to be at a business in the area to cash checks at about 3:30 p.m., police said.

Mahmood struggled with one of the men before being shot, detectives said. That man took Mahmood's van and fled with the men in the other two vehicles, police said.

"We do have witnesses who saw that Ford Expedition earlier in the day drive in the area of those warehouses," Officer Ray Cervantes said. "They may have been waiting for his (Mahmood) arrival there."

Mahmood's relatives said they are not angry but they want answers.

"Why would they do something like that? He was the sole provider for us," said Nadir Ijaz, Mahmood's son. "He put me through school. He made sure none of us had to worry about anything."

Ijaz said his father brought the family to the United States from Pakistan to give his family a better life.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.