Federal agents are investigating a possible hate crime after a Missouri man struck and killed a Somali teenager as he was leaving a mosque Thursday evening.
Ahmed Aden, 43, is accused of deliberately running down 15-year-old Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein as he was getting into a parked car outside the Somali Center of Kansas City, Mo., Reuters reported. Witnesses said Aden was speeding in his SUV before ramming into the boy, Kansas City police said.
Sheikh-Hussein was sent "flying through the air" before the vehicle ran over him, nearly severing his legs, a witness said, according to the Associated Press. The victim was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Armed with a machete, the suspect tried fleeing the scene on foot but was quickly arrested, police told Reuters. He also allegedly had a gun.
Aden was charged Friday with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, leaving the scene of an accident and unlawful use of a weapon.
The FBI is investigating Sheikh-Hussein's death as a potential hate crime and is working with Kansas City police, FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton told Reuters. She did not specify why the case could be a hate crime.
Aden initially told police he lost control of the vehicle. But he later said he thought the teenager was one of four men who had threatened to kill him a few days ago.
Sheikh-Hussein was dedicated to studying the Quran and was leading a group prayer before he died, Khadra Dirir, his aunt, told the AP.
Others at the mosque said they saw a black SUV painted with threatening messages like "Islam Is Worse Than Ebola" driven near the mosque and a nearby shopping area in recent weeks.
"I would have thought the police would have taken care of it, but they didn't," 13-year-old Mohamed Ahmed told the AP.
