By CLARA HO, SUN MEDIA
Saturday, December 06, 2008
The tight-knit Somali community in Edmonton is demanding answers after Tuesday's homicide victims, fatally shot in separate incidents, were identified as two of their own.
Police have identified the man found dead in a field in Grand Trunk Park near 109 Street and 130 Avenue at around 9:30 a.m. as 23-year-old Abdul Kadir Mohamoud of Edmonton.
Later that night, police were called to a parking lot at 148 Avenue and 89 Street at around 10:20 p.m. where they discovered the body of a 21-year-old man, identified as Ahmed Mohammed Abdirahman.
Mahamad Accord, executive director of the Alberta Somali Community Centre, wants to know who is killing who and why.
"It's a shock to us. We are trying to grasp what happened," Accord said. "But we aren't detectives, we don't know all the facts, so we want to talk to police."
The two latest victims - Edmonton's 31st and 32nd of the year - bring the total number of Somalis killed this year to five, he said.
On Aug. 24, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim was shot and killed outside the River Cree Resort. A month later, 22-year-old Nasir Mohamed Said was found dead behind Balwin school. And on Halloween morning, 21-year-old Abas Akubar's body was discovered near 140 Avenue and 92 Street.
All five victims were from Ontario and didn't have any family in Edmonton, making it harder to solve the mystery of their deaths, Accord said.
The first step is to have open dialogue between the community and police, as well as community members and the Somali youth, he said. They are starting with the Youth for Change meeting today at Killarney Community Hall at 3:30 p.m. to help young Somalis avoid a life of crime.
Source: Edmonton Sun, Dec 06, 2008