Dec. 08--A 34-year-old Kansas City, Mo., man charged with the hit-and-run killing of a Somali teenager outside a mosque last week told police he was trying to kill a group of men before they killed him, and the FBI is now investigating the slaying as a possible hate crime, according to court filings and law enforcement officials.
Ahmed Aden faces a first-degree murder charge in the Dec. 5 killing of Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein, 15, in the northern part of the city, according to the Jackson County prosecutor's office.
Sgt. Kari Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, told the Los Angeles Times that the FBI is also investigating the killing as a possible hate crime. A spokeswoman for the FBI in Kansas City did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Abdisamad was struck and killed outside the Somali Center of Kansas City, and the Council on Islamic Relations released a statement over the weekend saying Aden had been threatening area Muslims for months.
Driving a black sport utility vehicle, Aden allegedly slammed it into the back of a parked Camry at 5:34 p.m. on Admiral Boulevard in Kansas City, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors.
Abdisamad was ejected from the vehicle and suffered grievous injuries, and several other occupants of the Camry were hurt. Witnesses told police they saw Aden exit the vehicle with a machete and a handgun, which he waived at several people in the area before running, according to the Jackson County prosecutor's office.
Aden, who was arrested near the scene but not charged until Monday, initially told police he had simply lost control of the vehicle. He later admitted that four males had threatened to kill him in late November, and he had been searching for them in recent days, according to court filings.
"Aden stated he woke up [Friday] morning and began looking for them again. He stated he had the machete and knife with him as he looked for the people who threatened him," the complaint read. "He stated if he found them earlier in the day he definitely would have killed them."
Aden thought he spotted one of the men who threatened him and drove his car into the crowd, according to the court filing, telling police he "did not want to kill a 15-year-old."
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