A visitor from Ohio had just finished praying at a south Minneapolis mosque before dawn when he was shot and killed on a sidewalk, a Somali community leader said Tuesday.
The man slain early Sunday in the 2700 block of 13th Avenue S. was identified as Naim Jama, 23, who was visiting from the Columbus area, said Somali Justice Advocacy Center executive director Dahir Jibreel.
Jibreel said he met with family members of Jama who live in the Twin Cities, along with the dead man's mother, who arrived from Ohio after hearing of her son's death.
Jama was among several young men who had just left the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, Jibreel said. They were heading to a store for food, which they needed to eat before dawn. During the holy month of Ramadan, part of the observance includes fasting from sunrise to sunset.
Two men approached and subjected Jama and the others to insults "in some sort of gang language," Jibreel said. After one of them indicated that he had a gun, Jama's group started running. At least 12 shots were fired, Jibreel said.
Four of them made it back to the mosque and later found Jama face down outside, with a gunshot wound to the head, Jibreel said.
"This is a very sad story, very sad," Jibreel said. "I cannot imagine anything" Jama would have done to provoke the shooting.
"He was very straightforward, very calm and down-to-earth," Jibreel said. "I heard he was very, very responsible" and took seriously his role as the oldest among a large group of siblings.
No arrests have been made, police said Monday. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 612-692-8477.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
Source: The Star Tribune
A Somali community leader said that Naim Jama had been praying with others before he was slain.
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