By Guy Page

Hussein Mubarak, a 21-year-old Burlington man who died last week of fatal, close range gunshots to the head, had an extensive criminal history as well as a successful high school athletic career. Police have made no arrests in the July 7 nighttime shooting on Luck Street in Burlington’s Old North End. 

Mubarak’s family emigrated to Vermont from a refugee camp in Kenya. While in middle school, he also worked at a supermarket, according to media reports. 

His juvenile encounters with the police, if any, are unknown due to Vermont’s law sealing criminal histories of juveniles, unless action was taken against them in adult court. However, his exploits for the Burlington High School soccer team were well-publicized. 

The Oct. 23, 2018 Burlington Free Press reported that Mubarak scored the only goal against rival South Burlington: “Hussein Mubarak broke through late in regulation as No. 13 Burlington sent defending champion and fourth-seeded South Burlington home early in the 1-0 decision in the Division I high school boys soccer playdowns on Tuesday. A redirected pass via a Jake Manley flick created a break chance for Mubarak, who out-maneuvered a South Burlington defender and cut back to his right for the poised finish in front with about 16 minutes to go.”

The following October he was a freshman at Plymouth State College, having received scholarship assistance from the Boys & Girls Club in the Old North End. The media attention he earned in college there was decidedly less positive:

“On 10/29/2019, the Plymouth Police Department arrested HUSSEIN MUBARAK of Burlington Vermont, after an investigation into several burglaries and thefts from vehicles in the downtown area of Plymouth,” the Plymouth PD Facebook page noted. “Mubarak is presently charged with three counts of burglary, stemming from three separate incidents. Mubarak is suspected of entering the apartments of college students and taking alcohol, among other items. Mubarak was held on preventative detention and will have a hearing on 10/30/2019 at the Grafton County Superior Court.”

The Dec. 31 2019 Laconia Sun notes he faced a grand jury indictment: “Hussein S. Mubarak, 19, of Riverside Avenue, Burlington, Vermont, is facing three Class A felony charges alleging that he burglarized three Plymouth residences and stole liquor from them. He also faces a Class B felony for having a backpack with an allegedly stolen computer.”

Family members say he was forced to leave school, and upon his return to Burlington hit a “rough patch,” getting caught up in the street life. 

On May 14, 2021 he was caught trying to sell crack cocaine, and was indicted on Sept. 2, according to court records. Three days after the indictment he was found to possess a .22 caliber pistol. On May 31 of this year he was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison, with most of that sentenced time already served. He was released shortly afterwards and required to serve three years of supervised release. 

At a memorial vigil in Roosevelt Park yesterday, Mubarak was remembered by a family member as a caring, loving, funny person.