The teenager who was gunned down at a late-night gathering in north Minneapolis on Friday was a soon-to-be high school senior from Burnsville, according to an online fundraising page.
While authorities have yet to identify the victim, a GoFundMe account and an acquaintance identified him as Mohamed Hassan. The slaying was the city's third homicide in the past seven days and the 22nd of the year.
Hassan was found by officers just after 1 a.m. Friday in the 3200 block of N. Lyndale Avenue with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, according to police and emergency radio dispatch audio. He was shot as gunfire erupted during a gathering at a residence on that block of about 20 people, most of whom were seen fleeing the scene as officers arrived, according to the 911 recordings posted online. Police were alerted to the scene after the ShotSpotter network reportedly detected as many as 12 gunshots.
The fundraising page described the teen as a sociable, easygoing kid whose life was tragically cut short by a "senseless act of murder."
"We have lost a beautiful, kind hearted, loved and cherished young man. Mohamed Hassan was loved by so many," the page said. "Mohamed was a 17 year old young man finishing up his last year in high school & last year of playing varsity basketball." Attempts to reach the account's administrator were unsuccessful on Friday.
According to his social media accounts, Hassan attended Burnsville High School, where he played football and was also on the basketball team that fell just short of making the state tournament this year, losing to Eastview High School in the Section 3AAAA title game.
No arrests had been announced as of Friday.
The slaying followed a bloody stretch in the city. On Monday, police on routine patrol came across the body of a man along a bike path off West River Parkway. An autopsy later revealed that 21-year-old Burka O. Mohammed of Minneapolis died of multiple stab wounds. On Tuesday, a man's body was discovered on a railroad bridge in northeast Minneapolis.
