St. Louis Shooting: Identities of Victims, Shooter Released
Police released the identities of the three victims and shooter from yesterday's mass shooting at a Cherokee Street healthcare facility in St. Louis, Mo. Police believe a man planned the murder-suicide but have not released any motive yet.
Ahmed Dirir, 59, entered the A K Home Healthcare facility and killed three employees. Khadra Muse, 44, Saeed Abdulla, 29, and Bernice Solomon-Redd, 54, were all fatally wounded inside the building. Dirir then allegedly turned the gun on himself, as police found his body and the gun next to it.
Dirir apparently owned the facility where the shootings took place. He used a semi-automatic handgun, which was recovered from the scene. There were no eyewitnesses to provide information such as what may have led to the shooting, although surveillance footage shows Dirir arguing with an employee before opening fire.
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"The community is all pulling together," Anne McCullough, liaison for the Cherokee Station Business Association, told the Riverfront Times. "It's such a tight knit group of people… We are trying to hold everyone together. There are very active neighborhood organizations that are looking out for each other."
McCullough added that although many businesses had used the building where the shootings took place, there was always a feeling of community.
"It's an isolated incident," she said of the shooting. "People are still going to be on the street. It's a strong community. I don't want this to discourage people from coming down to Cherokee Street."
Family and friends in the community remember Dirir as "very bright" and "brilliant." Many of those gathered outside the building openly wept as news spread of the deceased.
"Ahmed was very bright; he had a master's degree. He was brilliant. He must have just snapped," Charles Kirkwood told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "I'm just kind of sad."
Mohamed Noor also knew Dirir and said that he was stressed over financial issues and was struggling from a divorce from his first wife. He recently remarried but was still depressed.
"He told me for two or three years, 'I'm going to kill people and then myself,' but nobody took him seriously," Noor said.
