Girl, 6, is grazed by bullet, leaving community hurt, too

Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

At Riverside Plaza apartments, Zamzam Mohamed, 6, who was grazed by a bullet Wednesday, leans against her mother. In the background is her sister Hafsa, 11, who was with her at the time.

The incident, the result of a dropped handgun, raises concern for safety in the West Bank neighborhood near downtown Minneapolis.

By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune

Last update: February 13, 2008 - 9:22 PM

Six-year-old Zamzam Mohamed was waiting for her school bus with her sister early Wednesday in the vestibule of their Minneapolis apartment building when she saw a man she had never seen before fumbling with a handgun.

Next came a boom and then screams, followed by searing pain in her lower leg.

The handgun had slipped from the man's waistband and discharged, grazing Zamzam's leg as several children looked on.

"He went through his pants; it was like he was trying to shoot it or something," said Zamzam's sister, Hafsa Mohamed, 11. "Then it went off and she started crying and there was a hole in her skirt. She was bleeding a little. He picked up the gun and ran."

Zamzam was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was treated and released.

Late Wednesday, police were searching for the man, whose gun went off as he shook it down his pants leg after it slipped loose. A surveillance camera caught the incident and allowed police a good look at him, said spokesman Sgt. Jesse Garcia.

Zamzam's mother and other residents of their apartment building at the Riverside Plaza apartment complex at 1615 S. 4th St. said things could have turned out much worse.

"We're kind of scared, is the thing," said Saida Warsame, who protectively held her daughter to her side in the doorway of their apartment Wednesday afternoon. Zamzam shyly hid her face in her mother's skirt.

"Before, yes, it was safe, but now it's kind of scary," Warsame said. "We know she's really lucky."

While family members were grateful that Zamzam escaped more serious injury or death, neighbors expressed fear and anger at what some said are increasing incidents of crime around the six-building, 1,303-unit apartment complex on the city's West Bank near Cedar and Riverside Avenues, an area largely populated by Somali immigrants.

Fadumo Abdullah, 16, was waiting for her younger sister as several buses pulled into the complex Wednesday afternoon. Word had spread quickly about what happened.

"I have a sister the age of the girl that was shot, and she always plays out here," Abdullah said, motioning to the front of the complex. "It's scary."

Still, Abdullah said she has not witnessed anything that would lead her to believe Riverside is a dangerous place for her young siblings. "It looks friendly," she said.

But 11-year-old Ubah Salad disagreed.

"No," she said, slowly shaking her head, when asked if Riverside is safe. "It's not good."

Zakirea Nun, 24, said he had just sent his younger sister off to school when he heard the commotion and returned to the lobby to see Zamzam bleeding. When it came to whether his home was safe, Nun shrugged and pointed his thumb toward the skyline behind him.

"We're a stone's throw from downtown," he said. "There's going to be some good and bad that comes with it."

Warsame said that though the incident was frightening, Zamzam and Hafsa will continue to wait for the bus in the building's vestibule.

Zamzam showed her face long enough to give one more nod -- this time about her eagerness to return to school.

"Yeah," she said softly with a hint of a smile.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921