Police standoff, 2 deaths at Jacinto City bread store

We can't remember the last time we heard about a violent crime in a bread store, but there was a doozy in Jacinto City yesterday afternoon: After a nearly two-hour standoff, a man who had stabbed his estranged wife to death in the store was shot by police. There go all our illusions of safety while shopping for sweet rolls and buttered split-top.

According to police, 27-year-old Mohammad Rafi entered the Mrs. Baird's store (which, oddly, became a Marble Slab Creamery in KPRC's report) where his estranged wife, Tiffany Rafi, worked at about 5:30 p.m. He reportedly stabbed the woman to death, and when police showed up he tried to use his wife's body to shield himself as he barricaded himself in the store. The Chronicle reports that family members tried to get Rafi to come out of the store, but he said he wouldn't leave alive; eventually, he pointed a gun at police and an HPD SWAT officer fatally shot him. "There is the possibility it was suicide by cop after he murdered the female," HPD Sgt. Michelle Sandoval told the Chron.

It wasn't the first time Rafi had bothered his estranged wife at the store: Jacinto City Police Chief Joe Ayala said officers had been dispatched to the store several times recently on domestic dispute calls, and last month, Rafi violated a restraining order by visiting his wife there. A co-worker told the Chronicle that Tiffany Rafi had recently filed for divorce.