The maternal grandmother of Nadir Soofi, one of two men killed in an attack on a Texas contest for drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, said Monday her grandson wasn't a terrorist and had to have been under the spell of his roommate, Elton Simpson.
Shirley Dromgoole of Garwood, Texas, told NBC station KPRC of Houston that Soofi, 34, a divorced father, "was a good boy every time I saw him."
Senior law enforcement sources named Soofi and Simpson, 30, who shared an apartment in Phoenix, as the suspects who were killed in the attack Sunday in Garland, Texas.
Soofi was raised Muslim by his father, who is of Pakistani descent, Dromgoole said. She called him "real responsible" and "respectful."
"He tried to do good at whatever job he did. He had a good education," Dromgoole said. "Whoever he was with talked to him into it."
Simpson's family said Monday they were equally mystified by his alleged role in the attack.
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