A former Somali militia soldier who saw years of fighting before emigrating to the United States was arrested in the fatal stabbing of his roommate late Monday, according to witnesses.
Killed was Abdrahman “Haji” Warfaa, believed to be 24 years old. He leaves a wife and three children in Ohio, his brother told Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education & Social Advocacy Center.
The victim’s roommate was taken into custody Monday night but has not yet been charged. The Star Tribune generally does not publish suspect’s names unless criminal charges have been filed. The roommate had been living in Maine before moving to Minnesota last year, Bihi said.
The men had been arguing Monday evening in the apartment after Warfaa, who had been staying at the apartment for several months, asked to stay for one more week. The roommate went to the kitchen, got a knife and then walked back to Warfaa, saying he was going to stab him, Bihi said.
Thinking his roommate’s threats were just a joke, Warfaa said words to the effect of “go ahead,” and thrust his neck out, said Bihi, who spoke to a man who was in the apartment that night. The roommate then stepped forward and sank the knife into Warfaa’s neck, the witness told Bihi.
Attempts to revive Warfaa were not successful, said Sgt. Steve McCarty.
The roommate, his clothes covered in blood, was crying when he was led away in handcuffs by police, according to Egal Mohammed, a clerk at Otanga Grocery. The grocery store is directly below the apartments and was open when authorities arrived, he said. A man who had been in the apartment at the time of the attack said several people witnessed it.
They described the suspect as a former Somali militia member who was recruited at 13 to fight the government. “He used to tell me about his life,” said Bihi, who said the man told him that he was once left for dead after a battle and was found by his mother four or five days later.
Bihi knew both of the men, having met them last September when he invited them to a concert at the Cedar Cultural Center.
“I gave those men tickets,” said Bihi, recalling how the suspect said he needed one more ticket for his friend Warfaa, who had just arrived from Ohio.
(c)2012 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Thats Very Sad….
This is what happens when you let dangerous criminals into the country..
And yet the current politically correct approach seems to be to let everyone in and ignore the legal process. Our president seems to think it’s not really a problem. I fear things will get worse before they get better.
Just got a “passport” card so l can get back into my own country…a drivers’ lic is ok to get into Canada, but not good enough to get back home…$130.00 for ‘expedited’ service…But hey I’m just a fat middle aged blond blue eyed white guy…
Just keep letting these Foreign Alien Criminals come into the country. Somalia has no Army. So which side did this Mercenary fight on? Al Qaeda? The Pirates? Al Shabab? The War Lords? All Terrorist groups.
He will blame it on seeing years of fighting like in the first paragraph of the article then go to a mental hospital for a couple years and get out free and clear. Seems to be what happens alot lately round here. RIP to the man that was killed
We do not know what the background and context of this story is. I am sorry for both men. They came here to get away from horrific circumstances, and then found themselves a product of those same circumstances. All those who are saying that these men are criminals, there is no record of that. The article states that one of the men was a Somali milita member. That is all. He was fighting the corrupt Somali Government as a boy at 13. More than likely he fought against the Barre government that fell in 1991 You know the party that called themselves the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party. You know the soviet backed Barre government that committed atrocities in the 1000’s. That would make him a hero in some people’s books.This man did what he did and it is sad. But I could point you to hundreds of other acts done to Mainers by Mainers that are far more horrendous.
Kettle meet Pot.
Disversity is so wonderful.
We chose to allow entry into this country of mass numbers of Somalians, immediately after we learned the hard way how different that country and culture is from America.
We are nuts.