Dr. Hamid Mirshojae, a 61-year-old medical professional specializing in drug and alcohol addiction, was gunned down in what authorities are calling a targeted attack. The incident took place on August 23, 2024, around 5:30 p.m. in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, California, just outside his clinic, about an hour after it had closed for the day.
The Los Angeles Police Department reports that the assailant had been lying in wait at the Warner Plaza Urgent Center parking lot on Topanga Canyon Blvd. for close to an hour. As Dr. Mirshojae left the building and made his way to his Lexus, the suspect fired at point-blank range before escaping on foot. While bullet casings were found at the crime scene, the murderer has yet to be identified, and a motive for the attack remains unclear.
With over 20 years of experience in primary and emergency care, Dr. Mirshojae was renowned for his empathetic approach to medicine. His clientele ranged from celebrities and athletes to everyday individuals. Apart from his work in primary care, he was also board-eligible in addiction medicine, with over ten years of experience in treating addiction.
Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of violence against Dr. Mirshojae. Several months prior to the shooting, he was brutally attacked and beaten by three unidentified individuals armed with baseball bats outside the same clinic. This assault left him living in fear, though it is yet to be confirmed whether the two incidents are related.
Former patient Khedhar Quintero remembered Dr. Mirshojae for his deep care and concern for his patients, emphasizing his genuine interest in their well-being and futures. Quintero suggested that Dr. Mirshojae’s work, which often involved helping individuals through detox, might have negatively impacted someone, potentially leading to his untimely death.
Another long-term patient, Gloria Sera, shared that Dr. Mirshojae had been her doctor for 15 years and always made her feel better. She revealed that Dr. Mirshojae, who was originally from Iran, had recently married.
At the time of the tragic incident, Dr. Mirshojae’s wife and their six-month-old daughter were in Turkey visiting family. He is also survived by three adult children from a previous marriage. In response to the deadly attack, the clinic has taken measures to increase security, including hiring a security guard to patrol the premises.
According to The Daily Mail, the Los Angeles physician had been engaged in a protracted legal dispute with his former spouse, Ahang Kelk, 54, which spanned nearly 20 years and included allegations from him that she had threatened his life.
The legal battle that started in 2009 when the couple divorced had grown to encompass two fraud cases, a civil harassment dispute, four requests for restraining orders, and a continual reopening of their divorce proceedings, with the latest occurrence in January.
Both Kelk and Mirshojae, whose online profile boasts that his patients include celebrities, movie stars, athletes, and individuals from various backgrounds, have at times secured restraining orders against one another.
In a 2017 request, the doctor stated that one restraining order granted to his ex-wife had compelled him to vacate their $6 million six-bedroom home in Calabasas, where she continues to reside. In May, Mirshojae filed a lawsuit against his former spouse for fraud, alleging that she had moved her assets to her mother and other relatives to conceal them from him and obstruct his access to settlement funds he had received in earlier court cases.
The couple was scheduled to appear again on August 23 for a hearing concerning the fraud case, which revolved around her supposed failure to pay the $270,000 settlement awarded to him from a 2021 case where he again accused her of fraud and of operating an illegal marijuana dispensary from a property they both had stakes in. He had also submitted a request for an additional $600,000 in attorney fees that is still pending and claimed she violated a settlement agreement they reached in 2017.
The 2021 case outlines how the relationship between the former couple significantly deteriorated after Mirshoejae terminated Kelk from her position in his medical practice in 2016. The complaint states that Kelk promised to ruin his business after she was dismissed as office manager, following accusations that she had misappropriated over $600,000 from the surgical practice. Although a judge ruled in favor of Mirshojae, the ongoing case concerns Kelk’s purported failure to make the required payments.
Kelk has also repeatedly reactivated their divorce proceedings, with the intense nature of their legal battle prompting Judge Steve Cochran to express his exhaustion by stating that ‘the cost of this litigation became unreasonable long ago’ in February. During that hearing, Kelk requested financial support for their youngest son Jason, who is 21, despite being legally an adult, arguing that he is unable to secure employment.
In spite of the chaotic history of the couple, Kelk appeared to be devastated at the news of Mirshoejae’s death.
