PORTLAND, Maine — Two homicides and a shooting shook the Portland community last weekend. With one case still unsolved, some members of the Muslim and Somali communities are frustrated.
The Portland Police Department issued a statement Friday, saying they are working diligently to complete the investigation of the shooting that killed Isahak Muse, 22, of Portland.
Muse, who graduated from Deering High School in 2015, was found dead inside of a home on Milton Street on March 16. Portland Police Lieutenant Robert Martin said Muse was shot during an altercation around 1:45 a.m. and had already died by the time police and paramedics arrived.
Nearly a week later, authorities are still investigating the incident, and no arrests have yet been made. Some members of the Muslim and Somali communities are upset by the process, since two other incidents -- a murder by strangulation and a non-deadly shooting -- that also happened that weekend in the city have already resulted in arrests.
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According to the Portland Press Herald, 40 of these community members met with Portland leaders Friday at the Maine Muslim Community Center. They voiced their concern that the shooting may have been a hate crime against Muse, who was a black Muslim man.
"This carries all the hallmarks of interracial and interreligious conflict," Mahmoud Hassan, President of the Somali Community Association of Maine, told the Press Herald. "I don’t want to use too strong of a word -- it’s not too strong of a word, actually. Interracial and interreligious hatred."
In response to Friday's meeting, Portland police sent out a press release to ensure they are working diligently and interviewing everyone who may have been involved in the case.
"Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Isahak Muse," said Interim Portland Police Chief Vern Malloch. "Please know that Isahak’s death is the top priority of the Portland Police Department. We have assigned a team of investigators to this tragic case."
Malloch said the department has met with Muse's family and has been in communication with them. He also acknowledged the community's concern and said there is a lot that needs to be done to figure out exactly what happened that night.
"We have collected and are analyzing the evidence. We are confident that we have identified everyone who was present when Isahak was shot," said Malloch. "We are comparing the physical evidence to what we are being told happened."
Malloch said he wishes he could release more details about the case but said that doing so could jeopardize the outcome of the investigation. He said the department is asking for patience and support and will provide updates as they become available.
"We’re going to trust the process," local Muslim community member Gouled Hussein told the Press Herald. "We hope to hear something soon. We really need some urgency on this situation."