Drive-by killers may have shot wrong man
Murder was planned with shotgun and stolen cars, but police believe businessman was not their target
THE victim of a drive-by shooting at a barbecue may not have been his killers’ intended target, police have revealed.
Businessman Abdul Rahman Abubaker was fatally shot as he left the party on a quadbike in Stratford Place, Highgate, at about 11pm, on May 15, 2018.
The 24-year-old, who together with his brother, professional boxer Mussab Abubaker, ran Bubble Rolls dessert shop in Sparkhill, died from his injuries the following day.
Five men – Abdirahman Yusuf, 23, Mustafa Omar, 21, Shire Elmi, 23, Fahmi Daahir, 23, and Abdirahman Dirie, 21 – were last week found guilty of his murder following an eightweek trial at Birmingham Crown Court. They will be sentenced at a later date.
However, three years on from the tragedy, West Midlands Police are no nearer understanding the motive for the senseless murder – with no known link between Mr Abubaker and his killers uncovered during a “painstaking” investigation.
What is clear is that premeditation was involved in the attack, which saw a single shot fired at Mr Abubaker’s chest from a car window about 10ft away.
The vehicles used were stolen and later burnt out, with phone data connecting the defendants in the hours leading up to the murder.
Mr Abubaker, a Wolverhampton University graduate, had left the barbecue as the convey of three cars arrived in the street and was shot within seconds.
Superintendent Ed Foster told the Birmingham Post: “It was ruthless. A shotgun was pulled out and used within seconds.
“If you are going to take a shotgun out and shoot someone at a range of about 10ft, you are trying to kill them.
“Our case has never been who the target was. I don’t think Abdul was the particular target for it. The way it panned out from CCTV, he happened to be the one they shot.
“They’ve clearly targeted someone at the barbecue or the barbecue (group) in general.
“When the barbecue starts to close up, you see Abdul get onto his quad bike. He rides away at the same time the three cars come in. So he’s the first person to meet the three cars. What we know from witnesses, he asks ‘who’s this, what’s going on, can I help you?’ and that’s when he gets shot.
“It’s a terrible crime and it’s just strange not knowing the motive.”
The defendants all lived in the same area of the city, which is how they knew each other, police said.
The force said there was no evidence to suggest it was a rival gang hit, but they could not rule out drugrelated issues.
“It was not spontaneous as we see in a lot of other murders. There was a lot of premeditation involved,” he said.
“There’s a lot of planning into what is going on. Obviously, they’ve sourced a weapon beforehand. They knew where they were going and there’s lots of telephone calls from
data between them about what’s going on.
“There’s clearly a plan in place to do this.”
A combination of CCTV, phone records and forensics from a glove and sock left in burnt-out cars were used to prove their guilt.
Police said one defendant fled to live with family members in Sweden and returned over two years later to be arrested at an airport in London. Another was held in Scotland.
Supt Foster added: “For Abdul’s family it’s important we got these convictions and for the community.
“If people get gunned down in the street enjoying a BBQ, the community have got to realise that we will not stop until we get someone charged. In this case three years later we put people in court.
“There is not a motive and you have no real witnesses as it’s a driveby. You’ve got no association between the victim and offenders and it’s in a suburban area and not a town centre. Cases like this are always difficult to bring together. It was painstaking, but it is important.”
The gun has never been recovered, police added.