Somali man slain at mall packed with shoppers

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune

A crowd gathered in south Minneapolis after a man was shot and killed Monday night. His body was found outside the Village Market mall.

The young man was killed outside a mall that was packed with shoppers on the eve of a major religious holiday in the Somali Muslim community.

By LORA PABST, Star Tribune

Last update: September 30, 2008 - 6:20 AM

A young man was shot to death Monday night outside a mall in south Minneapolis that was packed with shoppers on the eve of a major religious holiday in the Somali Muslim community.

Police were called to the Village Market mall shortly before 9 p.m. and found the victim's body lying outside the mall. As the night wore on, officers taped off the scene and offered only sparse details.

Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer said police were not yet releasing the man's identity or age. Police said that no one had been arrested and that they had no suspect information.

However, family members at the scene identified the victim as a 19-year-old Minneapolis man of Somali heritage who had gone to the mall to get his hair cut on the eve of Eid-al-Fitr, the festival of fast-breaking that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The mall, a former factory building whose merchants are largely Somali, was crowded with immigrants preparing for the holiday, and afterward about 100 people gathered peaceably in the area, anxiously seeking information about the shooting.

The Phillips neighborhood in which the mall is located is home to a large population of Somali and other immigrants.

Today is "supposed to be a festive day, and he's not going to be there," said Shukri Omar, who identified herself as a cousin of the victim. She said he was an only child, "a momma's boy."

"It's so sad to see our mothers crying every weekend," Omar said, referring to a recent spate of deadly shootings within the Somali community. She said that the violence has raised fears in the community and that many people are wondering what will happen next.

Lora Pabst • 612-673-4628