On a tragic Halloween night in 2020, 18-year-old Hassan Hassan, a Black male, was fatally shot on River Street in Lewiston, Maine. The incident, which occurred just after 7:30 p.m., left Hassan critically injured. He was quickly transported to Central Maine Medical Center, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died. An investigation later determined the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to his left thigh that perforated his femoral artery, leading to fatal blood loss.
The events leading up to the shooting involved a dispute that had escalated throughout the day. Earlier on October 31, the windows of two vehicles belonging to Hassan's family were smashed at their home. Hours later, the windshield of a vehicle belonging to the mother of Abdikadir A. Nur was also smashed. That evening, after learning about the damage to his mother's car, Nur, along with at least one other individual, drove to River Street. Following the sound of gunshots, Lewiston police discovered a trail of blood that led them to a parking lot on Oxford Street, where they found Hassan with a gunshot wound.
In the days following the shooting, police identified 20-year-old Abdikadir A. Nur of Auburn as a suspect. He was arrested on November 2, 2020, at his mother's residence. At the time of his arrest, Nur was already out on bail for a previous charge of elevated aggravated assault from an incident in July of that year. Initially arrested for violating the conditions of his release, Nur was subsequently charged with the murder of Hassan Hassan. Investigators found threatening Instagram messages from Nur to Hassan on his phone from the day of the shooting. Surveillance footage from the crime scene also showed a person wearing a jacket that matched one seen in a photo on Nur's phone.
In April 2022, Abdikadir Nur, then 22, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter as an accomplice. The initial charge of intentional or knowing murder was dismissed. As a result of the plea deal, Nur was sentenced to 16 years in prison, with more than half of that sentence suspended. He will serve seven years behind bars, followed by four years of probation. During the sentencing, Hassan's sister remembered her brother as an "amazing" young man who had a passion for cutting hair and dreamed of becoming a barber.
