Inset (left): Anwar Osman (GoFundMe). Inset (right): News footage of Mahmoud Said Ali in court (KPTV). Background: News footage of the scene in Portland, Ore., where Anwar Osman was found dead (KPTV).
An Oregon man allegedly shot his friend to death after chasing him down in his car, then he attended his victim's funeral.
Mahmoud Said Ali, 42, was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 41-year-old Anwar Osman, who was found dead of gunshot wounds during the early morning hours of Aug. 4. According to the Portland Police Department, a sergeant was on a routine patrol at 4:10 a.m. when he came across a car that crashed into a building. At the same time, dispatchers received calls about shots fired in the same area. The sergeant went to inspect the car and found the driver, later identified as Osman, "unconscious and suffering from gunshot wounds."
Osman, a father of six, was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, one of the 911 callers approached a police officer at the scene and said he was driving when he saw two cars in front of him as they were all stopped at a red light. The caller said he saw the driver of one of the cars get out and walk up to the driver's side window of the car in front of him, at which point the caller allegedly "saw several muzzle flashes."
Police said the building across the street, a facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had surveillance cameras that captured the whole incident. According to the affidavit, a blue SUV stopped behind a Toyota Avalon at a red light. A man got out of the SUV, walked up to the Toyota, as the witness said, and "immediately begins firing a pistol" into the driver's side. The man then walked back to his SUV and drove around the Toyota and away from the scene.
Other cameras captured the Toyota "rolling" into the building it ultimately crashed into. Police said the Toyota had an Uber sticker on the window, and they confirmed that Osman was a driver for the rideshare service. Data provided by Uber showed that Osman had been coming from Portland International Airport before the alleged shooting, and he was being followed by the same blue SUV.
Police said Osman dropped off a passenger at the airport at 3:43 a.m., at which point the blue SUV started following him. While Osman stopped at a 7-Eleven store a few minutes later, the blue SUV waited in the parking lot until he left, then continued following him. Police wrote in the affidavit, "The suspect vehicle appears to be trailing Osman for the entirety of Osman's travels."
At 4:09 a.m., the man later identified as Ali got out of his blue SUV and allegedly fired nine shots at Osman, who "briefly screams" before he slumped over into the passenger side of his car.
Video footage from the airport showed Uber and Lyft stickers on the blue SUV. Lyft provided its data about the vehicle to police, who found through the Department of Motor Vehicles that the vehicle, a Toyota Highlander, was registered to Ali, who drove for Lyft. Ali had also reportedly dropped off a passenger at the airport at the same time Osman did.
Police arrested Ali on Aug. 8, and he allegedly admitted to shooting Osman. No reason was provided.
According to reporting by local news outlet OregonLive.com, Osman and Ali were longtime friends who were part of Portland's Somali community. The outlet spoke with Musse Olol, president of the Somali American Council of Oregon, who said Ali spent time with Osman's family after the latter's death, even gathering at a private viewing of the victim's body before his funeral was held.
Ali also reportedly attended Osman's funeral and donated to a GoFundMe that was started for Osman's family.
On Tuesday, Ali was in court to plead not guilty to second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. Osman's widow, Kaltumo Osman, spoke through an interpreter to ask for justice for her late husband, saying, "I have six children that have been left behind, and I'm asking the court to make sure justice is served for me and my six children."
Ali is being held without bail at the Multnomah County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 28.