On Tuesday Moghaddam went to work in the frozen food section of Walmart at 4215 Canyon Drive. Police said he had been anticipating a promotion. The extra money would have helped his family tread water amid their financial troubles. He was passed over in favor of another worker and rather than go back to the frozen food section, he got a gun.

Around 11 a.m., Moghaddam fired one shot into the ceiling and took two hostages. One was his manager, Glen Jones, and another was an unidentified woman.

Not much was known about Moghaddam. Many knew his family as private and quiet. With a void of information surrounding him, rumors spread. He was said to be a Somalian immigrant and a terrorist. A headline on DCwatchdog.org read, “Three Muslim Terrorists Strike Walmart In Amarillo Texas And Are Shooting And Taking Hostages.”

A U.S. immigration officer has confirmed that Moghaddam came to the United States from Iran in 2003 and became a naturalized citizen in 2010. His wife came with him.

Locally, members of the Iranian community knew of Moghaddam. They also knew that he was not Muslim. The Islamic Center of Amarillo confirmed he did not attend their center. Refugee Services of Texas had not heard of him before then.

Emil Martinez and Moghaddam started working together when the Walmart opened in 2004, and worked closely with him for many years. Martinez was shocked when he saw the news on Tuesday, because that was not the Mohammad that he knew.

“I had spent a lot of time with him and his wife and I met his family,” Martinez said. “They were lovely people and there was never a point that I felt like he was any different. All the time I had worked with him, he had a work ethic like nobody I had ever met. He went in, did his job, didn’t goof around or complain. He would say, ‘Well we gotta fix it, so let’s go fix it,’ and so he did.”

Martinez said that at one point, he was curious and asked Moghaddam about his backstory. Moghaddam said he had worked as an auto mechanic in Iran and would drive around all day with his shirt collar popped and an eye for a girl from a well-to-do family.

Moghaddam’s father-in-law initially didn’t approve of Moghaddam pursuing his daughter and thought he was a punk and had no ambition, Martinez said. Yet, Moghaddam said he was determined to win over the heart of the daughter, and he did.

“The times we had moments to talk, he was very free about his past. He never hid anything,” Martinez said. “I had candidly asked him, ‘Are you a Muslim?’ and he said, ‘We are Baha’i’.”

Baha’i adherents believe that all religions are one and that all the prophets of the world’s religions preach a version of the same faith. According to www.bahai.org, they believe in universal peace and that the world belongs to one human family. Since its inception, followers of the Baha’i faith have been persecuted in Iran as religious minorities. CNN reported that when Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2003, the persecution of Baha’i followers increased.

“They ran from that oppression,” Martinez said. “They settled in New York, but they didn’t like it, because everyone thought he was Muslim over there.”

Moghaddam and his family moved to Amarillo and bought a home, two cars and a motorcycle. He started working in the frozen food section at Walmart.

“He worked in one of the most undesirable departments in the store. They have a zero degree section that in winter is the worst place to be,” Martinez said. “If you’ve worked in retail, a lot of people don’t care about their job. They go in and put in the hours. That department has to have its turnover. You can’t have stuff expired or about to (expire) and it was a big task and he took it. He did his job, didn’t complain. His wife was the same way.” She also worked at Walmart.

Walmart officials confirmed that Moghaddam was “certainly a long time associate” and had worked in the grocery department for more than a decade. Martinez said that Moghaddam had never been promoted out of the frozen food section.

In 2011, Moghaddam and his wife filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. At the time, they listed $50 in two separate checking accounts as part of their assets along with a house and two cars.

Walmart itself was in line to recover $1,528 from the Moghaddam family. The IRS also had put them on notice.

They had $3,478.85 in combined monthly income but had $3,705 in expenses.

Moghaddam made $24,218 in 2010, but had to go on disability in 2011.

Neighbors said Moghaddam had medical issues and that he had needed a liver transplant.

Moghaddam’s two grown children saw their father the morning of the shooting. They told a reporter that he was happy, ate breakfast, and went to work.

Police reported that the Moghaddam’s motive on the day of the shooting was a “workplace dispute” that stemmed from being passed over for a promotion.

“The whole time I was with him, he never disparaged the company itself. He was all for it. He always worked, ‘No time, no time, we gotta work’,” Martinez said. “Here was this guy going through this, desperate for money. He probably saw that he was offered a position and was denied and got frustrated. He just snapped. He worked for a company that really doesn’t care for people. The bottom line is the dollar.”

“Nobody ever knows what they would do when their back is against the wall. You can sit and judge, but until you are in that position, you’d be surprised.”

Jess Levin, communications director for Making Change at Walmart, a campaign by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, heard of the situation at Walmart on Tuesday and said that one of the issues that they regularly hear from workers there is that there are very few opportunities for promotion.

“It’s a favoritism issue. Opportunities are few and far between for workers that are not favorites of the manager,” Levin said. “It really is one of the issues we hear about most; the lack of opportunities for growth or promotion, even though Walmart has claimed that they are improving.”

Deisha Barnett, senior director for corporate communications at Walmart said she was not at liberty to share details, but that the incident was not over a workplace promotion but was a personal conflict.

“We have been able to confirm that he had not applied for a promotion and our investigation pointed us back to a personal conflict between two associates that sparked the incident,” Barnett said.

Martinez said that he was saddened for the family, but knew that Moghaddam was not inspired by radical religious feelings.

“I knew Mohammad personally and he wasn’t a terrorist. They ran from that.” Martinez said.