Hundreds mourn victim of shooting
Hundreds gathered at the Ottawa Mosque on Thursday for a funeral prayer for slain 21-year-old Mohamed Hassan, who was found shot dead on a footpath in the east end this week.
Masked mourners embraced each other outside of the mosque on Northwestern Avenue, carrying their prayer blankets into the building.
Passersby found Hassan dead from a gunshot wound on a footpath behind a school at 704 Carsons Rd. Monday at about 5:12 p.m. Police believe he was lured there with a ruse some time that late afternoon and then attacked.
We come here to put him here and we will leave him here. Think about that. Do something that you will be proud of.
A GoFundMe fundraiser created by his extended family to raise money for the funeral called Hassan a “happy, jolly kid that put a smile on everyone’s face.” Hassan was the youngest of four children.
“As time passed, he grew up and became one of the main supporters of his family,” the fundraiser says. But no matter how tall he grew or how grown-up he was, he remained the “baby” of the family.
“He had one of those laughs that would make the whole room crack a smile.”
Young Somali men gathered around his grave at the Ottawa Muslim Cemetery as one man implored them to think of Hassan and stop choosing a path that puts them in danger.
“This brother was with us. And we don’t want to lose any more of you to that hold,” the man said.
He implored them to stay away from the lure of easy and quick money.
“We come here to put him here and we will leave him here,” he said over Hassan’s grave. “Think about that. Do something that you will be proud of.”
Hours after the funeral, homicide detectives released two videos of two persons of interest in Hassan’s shooting death.
Police are looking to identify a black male seen on surveillance video walking alone in a white T-shirt, grey pants, dark shoes and dark baseball hat with a face mask. A second video shows a white woman walking in dark shorts, a sleeveless shirt, with shoulder-length dark hair and flip flops. The woman is seen walking with another male individual, but police do not believe he is a person of interest, police said.
Detectives ask anyone who may have seen these people or who can identify either of them to call a tip line at 613-236-1222, ext. 5477.
Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or at crimestoppers.ca. syogaretnam@postmedia.com twitter.com/shaaminiwhy