Mohamed Dawod, a 25-year-old man from Glendale, Ariz., faces a murder charge today, accused in the shooting death of Justin Hall, 32, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, at a Greyhound bus station in Springfield, Mo., late Thursday night. Whether or not this was a case of terrorism, however, remains up in the air after officials in the Southwest Missouri community were quick to say the shooting appeared random, according to a report in the Springfield News-Leader. But was it really?
According to a KSPR-TV report, Springfield police said that, because of a language barrier, they only learned Dawod’s name and have asked the FBI to help them with the investigation. Also in that report was this telling paragraph:
Ten separate witnesses say they did not notice the men fighting or arguing before the shooting. One passenger said she watched the suspect wander around the terminal until the call to line up to re-board the bus. “She then observed the suspect remove a silver and black handgun from a back pack he was carrying,” the officer wrote. “The suspect then pointed the handgun upward while saying something. The witness could not understand what the suspect said and didn’t know if he was speaking English.” No matter what was said the witness said Hall didn’t react or turn around. Shortly after the witness says Dawod shot him from a few feet away.
Witnesses featured in two television news reports, however, seem to reveal more than the “official” story lets on about the deadly incident that involved a man with a Muslim name and Middle East appearance shooting someone he did not know less than 48 hours ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
The first television report, which aired on St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK prior to any names being released or charges filed, features witnesses saying it appeared the assailant would have kept shooting, but his gun jammed.
The second report (below), which aired on the same station after the Springfield Police Department announced the alleged shooter’s name and charges against him, offered much the same story.
Stay tuned for more on this one as more details begin to surface!
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