A Somali teen killed at a gas station in St. Paul

[Jacpher]

Man fatally shot at gas station

 

Victim, 19, was waiting in car with friends; origin of gunfire is unclear

 

BY MARA H. GOTTFRIED

 

Pioneer Press

 

Mohamed M. Mohamed was a Harding High School graduate who recently had found a full-time job and planned to start college in the fall to become a radiologist.

He and his family fled war-torn Somalia and came to the United States in 1999 for such opportunities. But Mohamed was shot to death Thursday in the parking lot of a gas station in St. Paul's Summit-University neighborhood.

"You travel so many miles looking for peace. Now we just believe there's no place that's peaceful in the world," Hodan Kahin, a cousin of Mohamed, said Friday.

Mohamed, 19, of St. Paul told his mother Thursday night that he was going shopping in Minneapolis, said Sahra Elmi, his sister. He apparently ran into three friends along the way, left his car in St. Paul and rode with them to have dinner in Minneapolis, Elmi said.

On the way back to drop off Mohamed at his car, they stopped at the BP gas station at Interstate 94 and Lexington Parkway to get soda, Elmi said. The driver went inside, but the others stayed in the car. As he sat in the back seat, Mohamed was shot. It wasn't clear where the gunfire came from, Elmi said.

Police were called about 11:15 p.m. Mohamed was taken to Regions Hospital and pronounced dead. Police said Friday they had found no motive for the shooting and no arrests had been made.

No one else in the car with Mohamed was injured.

Mohamed had no criminal record, police said, and as far as his family knows, he had no enemies. But if anyone has information that indicates otherwise, the family hopes those people will contact St. Paul police.

"He was a very quiet, a very shy person," Kahin said. "He was respectful."

Mohamed graduated from Harding High School in 2004 and planned to attend St. Paul College in the fall, Kahin said. In the past few months, he had found full-time work as a parking attendant in downtown St. Paul.

Mohamed loved to play and watch basketball, and he spent much of his time with his extended family, Kahin said.

That family filled rooms in a house Friday with the sounds of crying, and they comforted Mohamed's mother as she sat on the floor and wailed, "Mohamed, Mohamed!"

The Somali Justice Advocacy Center has been receiving calls from community members expressing "grave concern" about the shooting, said Omar Jamal, the center's executive director. The St. Paul center will sponsor a vigil at the scene of the shooting at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Mohamed's death was the 19th homicide of the year in St. Paul. The city had a total of 20 last year.

Police ask anyone with information about Thursday's homicide to call 651-291-1111 or the homicide unit at 651-266-5650.

Mara H. Gottfried covers St. Paul public safety. She can be reached at mgottfried@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5262.

Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press

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[Pacifist]

Allah yarhamah ilahi u naxahriiso amin. May Allah east the pain for his family.

[Qac Qaac]

ilaahey ha unaxariisto miskiinka.. ehelkiisana ilaahay sabir ha ka siiyo..

[Socod_badne]

ilaahi ha unaxariisto

[Castro]

It's becoming clearer and clearer that only the good die young. May our brother rest in peace and his family have the strength to move on.

[Tahliil]

I Couldn't pass without my deepest condelences to the family of the young boy; May the Lord shower His mercy on him;

[Pucca]

that makes it a total of four ppl who've died before i got to meet them. may Allah have mercy on you mahamed, and may allah ease the pain for the family.

 

who'd have thought i'd be reading bout his death on the net.. *shakes head* world aint right