Abdishakur Adan Hassan, a 21-year-old from Minneapolis, was shot and killed on September 29, 2008, outside the Village Market Mall, a popular hub for the Somali community. The incident took place on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, a major Muslim holiday, as Hassan was waiting to get a haircut. According to witnesses and surveillance footage, Hassan was approached by a man wearing a hood, later identified as Hassan Mohamed Abdillahi, who shot him in the chest. Abdishakur died at the scene.
The motive for the killing was revealed to be a revenge attack. Abdillahi believed that Hassan was connected to the murder of his cousin, Abdi Abdullahi, which had occurred earlier in April 2008. Abdillahi had expressed his intent to kill Hassan after failing to reach the actual target, who had fled to Kenya. This case highlighted growing concerns over retaliatory violence within the Somali community in Minneapolis at the time.
Abdillahi was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The case was significant in that it marked one of the few successful convictions in a series of unsolved homicides affecting young Somali men in the Twin Cities area during that period. Abdillahi was later found guilty of Hassan's murder and sentenced.
