Man charged with murder for Somali mall shooting

October 23, 2008

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Hassan Mohamed Abdillahi
Monday for second-degree murder in the Sept. 29 shooting death of
Abishakur Adan Hassan .

According to the complaint:

Hassan was leaving the Somali
community mall located at 912 E 24th St. in Minneapolis, when a man
wearing a hood approached him and his two friends.

The
hooded man, who witnesses later identified as Abdillahi, allegedly shot
Hassan in the chest and ran away — all captured on mall surveillance
cameras.

Abdillahi told a witness on Sept. 11 that he was
going to kill Hassan in retaliation for his cousin Abdi Abdullahi ’s
April 11 murder.

The witness said Abdillahi believed Hassan was friends with his cousin’s murderer, who he thought had fled to Kenya.

Instead of killing the real murderer, the witness said that Abdillahi told him he would kill Hassan.

Witnesses,
who said Abdillahi was three feet away from them before he shot Hassan,
identified him both on the surveillance footage and from a suspect
photo lineup, according to the report. He was arrested Wednesday.

Abdillahi is being held at the Hennepin County Jail.

Omar Jamal, of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center , said the idea of vendetta is making waves in the Somali community.

“Of course the idea of retaliation created a very serious reaction and concern and fear,” Jamal said.

He
also stressed that the community should withhold judgment until the
courts have made their decision, especially considering, what he said,
were vague and unclear police documents.