Police calls on Somali community to help solve shooting

Minneapolis — Police were looking for at least two suspects on Thursday after three Somali men were shot to death the previous night at a corner grocery in south Minneapolis. Mayor R.T. Rybak and Police Chief Tim Dolan asked the Twin Cities Somali community to help them find those responsible for the shooting, who investigators believe are also Somali. "We have a challenge right now that this entire community needs to come together around, which is to bring every possible piece of information forward," Rybak said at a news conference. The names of the three men who were killed at Seward Market have not yet been released by authorities, but a family member has said two of the victims were Abdifatah and Mahad Warfa, who were related. "The victims were doing nothing but running a very, very good store," Dolan said. Investigators were still interviewing witnesses and had not yet released names or any other descriptions. "These individuals who committed this act are very, very dangerous," Dolan said, adding that police believe there is a danger to the Somali community. Neighbors and members of the Somali community were shocked and saddened by the incident on a typically quiet stretch of Franklin Avenue. It was the city's first triple homicide in nearly six years and the latest in a string of slayings among the city's Somali population. "It's a terrible tragedy," said Peter Fleck, a Seward neighborhood resident who runs an online forum.Fleck was walking in an alley behind the market at the time of the shooting and heard at least one shot. He said he walked around to the front of the store, saw the bodies and called 911. He also saw one person running away, but he couldn't see much. "It was dark. There was no way to see any details," Fleck said. Rybak and Dolan, who were both at the scene Wednesday night, had scheduled a news conference Thursday to talk about the city's low crime rate. The event instead focused on the shooting."We'll talk about trends another day. Today the entire community needs to talk," Rybak said. Police responded to Seward Market on East Franklin and 25th avenues just before 8 p.m. Wednesday on report of a robbery, but Dolan said he could not yet confirm the motive of the shooting or say whether a robbery took place. Several other people were in the store at the time. A woman at the scene, Shukri Farah, said she was buying some things at the market when she saw three men speaking Somali enter the store. According to local residents who translated, Farah said one of the workers suddenly grew shaky...more..http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/01/07/police-call-for-help-after-shooting/

Authorities should look deeper into
Possibility sectarian fighting Within Our Community  ..  if there's any connection

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