A preliminary hearing for Mohamed H. Dawod is scheduled to take place Monday at 10 a.m. Central in Springfield, Mo. The 25-year-old Glendale, Ariz., man is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Sept. 8 shooting death of an Ohio man at a Greyhound bus station in the southwest Missouri community.
Dawod is accused of shooting Justin Hall, 32, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, during a late-night rest stop for travelers on a St. Louis-bound bus full of passengers from as far away as Amarillo, Texas, point of origin for the bus.
On Sept. 9, I was the first to raise the possibility that the shooting might be a case of terrorism at my website and at BigGovernment.com after officials in the Southwest Missouri community, according to a report in the Springfield News-Leader, were quick to say the shooting appeared random.
A day later, a KSPR-TV report cited Springfield police officials as saying that, because of a language barrier, they only learned Dawod’s name and had asked the FBI to help them with the investigation. That local television report included 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.
I went on to draw information from two other television news reports that seemed to reveal more than the “official” story lets on about the deadly incident that involved a man with a Muslim name allegedly 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; and
The second report, 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.
Below, in chronological order, are other important milestones related to this case:
On Sept. 12, Dawod pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Monday, represented by public defender Shawn Markin of Springfield, he’ll stand before Judge Mark Fitzsimmons courtroom in his 31st Judicial Circuit courtroom.
On Sept. 14, I shared news of what a man traveling with the victim had to say about the suspect.
On Sept. 16, I asked the question, Will MSM Cover Trial of Accused Killer in Bus Station Shooting on Eve of 9-11 Anniversary? Why? Because, one week after the shooting, no media outside of Missouri had picked up the story.
On Sept. 25, it was revealed in this report that, in addition to a handgun, Dawod had a 9-inch knife and 37 rounds of ammunition when arrested.
On Sept. 28, I shared details of the story with Aaron Klein on his 77 WABC radio show, Klein Online Investigative Radio.
On Nov. 22, according to a posting on CaseNet [Case #1131-CR06034], Judge Fitzsimmons decided to allow media to film in and around the courtroom prior to the commencement of the hearing but will require all cameras and microphones to be turned off before the hearing begins.
Stay tuned for updates on this story as it will be interesting to see how — or, more accurately, IF — any of the major national media cover this story.