Shalaal left the Sheraton with his two sons, aged 3 and 6, and his 12-year-old daughter. It was Friday, the Muslim day of prayer -- usually the least violent day of the week.
As he turned on Sadoun Street and started picking up speed, gunmen in a white SUV passed between his car and the hotel regularly targeted by insurgents. Windows on the SUV rolled down and the firing began, with guards up and down the street joining in almost reflexively.
Shalaal never made it down the tunnel of flying lead, his car rolling to a stop in front of the hotel where he worked since 1996.
"He'll be forgotten in five minutes, that's Iraq today," one man murmured in Arabic after looking at Shalaal's bullet-riddled white compact car.
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