A man, who holds United States citizenship after emigrating from Pakistan, faces charges for an alleged attempt to kidnap a child in Canada, as revealed in an unsealed criminal complaint announced by U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. Shahzad Hameedi, also known as Sheraz Hameed, a 46-year-old resident of Wayne County, Michigan, was named as the suspect by the United States Attorney's office, in an announcement where Gorgon collaborated with Matthew Stentz, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Detroit.
The accusations against Hameedi are severe; after his access to a minor child was limited by the child's mother whom he had been dating in Windsor, Canada, he seemingly orchestrated a kidnap attempt in June 2025, during which agents found a ransom note and evidence indicating he had researched tranquilizers, accumulated items such as a stun gun, zip ties, duct tape, and more putting together a chilling cocktail of kidnapping tools, the U.S. Attorney's Office described. Hameedi allegedly took his plans further by clandestinely crossing into Canada and invading the family's residence at night, where he purportedly strangled the mother but was repelled before attacking the young child when he returned to the scene two days later.
In a statement delivered by Gorgon, the visceral response to the nature of the alleged crime was clear, “The defendant’s alleged plan to kidnap a young child by sneaking across the border and entering Canada, breaking into a mother’s home at night, strangling her and then assaulting her innocent, young child two days later is diabolical. No parent or child should ever be subjected to this wickedness. We will bring the full force of the law against violent predators,” emphasizing the U.S. authority's commitment to justice. The U.S. Attorney's Office highlighted that a criminal complaint serves solely as a formal accusation, not a presumption of guilt, with the onus on the government to substantiate guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile, ICE HSI Detroit representative Stentz commended the collaborative effort to address the alleged transborder criminal endeavor, stating, per the U.S. Attorney's Office, “HSI is committed to working with our Canadian partners to hold criminals accountable and safeguard innocent children on both sides of the Northern border,” and praised the diligence of agents, Canadian law enforcement, and prosecutors involved. Hameedi's case, under scrutiny by Homeland Security Investigations and the Windsor Police Service, will be prosecuted by a trio of U.S. Assistant Attorneys; the investigation's intricacies and the cross-border nuance speak to the complexities of criminal activity in our modern era.
