5 die in car crash

Five young Somali women were killed in a crash Friday night near Lake St. and I-35W in Minneapolis after a driver at a high rate of speed t-boned their vehicle at an intersection and fled on foot.

Four adult women and one juvenile female inside the t-boned vehicle died at the scene, police say.

Derrick John Thompson, 27, is believed to have caused the crash and was apprehended a short time later and hospitalized. He is the son of former DFL State Representative John Thompson.

On Monday, June 19, Authorities confirmed that Thompson, was released from the hospital and booked on probable cause murder.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner identified the five victims killed as: Siham Adan Odhowa,

19, of Minneapolis

Sahra Liban Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali, 17, of Bloomington

Sagal Burhaan Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis

Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, 20, of Saint Louis Park

“This is an incredibly tragic and horrific scene,” MPD Chief Brian O’Hara said. Reports indicate Highway Patrol observed Thompson’s vehicle travelling at a high speed when it exited I-35 northbound at the Lake Street exit.

The vehicle ran a red light at the intersection of Lake St. & 2nd Ave. and crashed into the vehicle occupied by the young women. Thompson exited the vehicle and fled from the scene, reports say.

Video from a MnDOT traffic camera shows Thomson speeding up the ramp from northbound I-35W, with a Trooper following behind with no lights or sirens activated, shortly before the crash.

The crash victims were pronounced dead at the scene by responding medical personnel.

Canvassing the scene, Minneapolis police found Thompson and took him into custody. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for medical evaluation before booking. Police say he may have been impaired or under the influence.

KSTP reporter Pafoua Yang said hundreds of mourners gathered Monday afternoon for a prayer service and burial for the five young women. All five were members of the Dar Al-Farooq

Islamic Center in Bloomington.

The youngest, Ali, had just graduated from high school; the others were working on earning college degrees.

“They were really ambitious,” said Abdulhi Farah, a fellow member of the Islamic center. “… Even young people at the center looked up to them as role models.”

After a prayer service at Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, the women were laid to rest at Garden of Eden Cemetery in Burnsville.

Some of the victims were talking to their parents just 15 minutes before the crash.

The tragic event sent shockwaves through Minnesota’s Islamic community. The news has even stretched to communities in East Africa.

“Just a really painful loss that we feel as a Somali