A Somali community member talks about the killings

Flowers outside the market
Flowers sit outside the door of the Seward Market in south Minneapolis on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2009. Police were looking for at least two suspects on Thursday after three East African men were shot to death the previous night at a corner grocery
MPR Photo/Mark Zdechlik

On Wednesday night, three East African immigrants were gunned down at a market in the Seward neighborhood Minneapolis.

Police Chief Tim Chief Dolan called the killings, the city's first triple homicide in nearly six years, "a horrific, terribly tragic situation."

The Twin Cities has seen an uptick in recent years in Somali-on-Somali killings, but mostly related to street gangs or retribution. Two years ago, an Augsburg College student was gunned while working as a youth mentor.

For more perspective from the local Somali community, Tom Crann talked with Hashi Shafi, community organizer with Somali Action Alliance, whose office is located right next door to the Seward market where Wednesday night's killings occurred.