See No Evil: What happened at the Minneapolis Seward Market and Halal Meat shooting?

The 2010 shooting at the Seward Market and Halal Meat on Franklin Avenue in south Minneapolis became news among the Somali community of the city. The otherwise quiet neighborhood was interrupted by two 17-year-old men, Ahmed Shire Ali and Mahdi Hassan Ali, who attempted robbery.

However, the robbery turned into a shooting as a customer walked in and was shot down. Three men were fatally shot and identified as Mohamed Abdi Warfa, Anwar Salah Mohammed, and Osman Jama Elmi. The shooters were charged with first-degree murder and tried as adults.

The See No Evil episode Too Much Video airs on February 28, 2024, at 9 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery and showcases the incident of gun violence that took place on January 6, 2010, at Seward Market and Halal Meat. The synopsis reads,

"In 2010, three men are murdered in a convenience store in Minneapolis's Somali community; the store's CCTV system uncovers evidence of a robbery gone wrong, and footage from cameras around the city could offer clues to the killer's identity."

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What happened at the Minneapolis Seward Market and Halal Meat shooting?

A corner grocery store in Minneapolis, Seward Market and Halal Meat, became the spot for a botched robbery as three men were left dead after an incident of gun violence on January 6, 2010. According to MPR News, Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer confirmed that the call was placed to report the incident of robbery around 8 p.m. local time. As the responders made their way to the location, the nature of the incident changed to shooting.

The witnesses at the store confirmed seeing two men speaking in Somali enter the establishment—later identified as Ahmed Shire Ali and Mahdi Hassan Ali—both masked. Per surveillance footage, Mahdi Hassan Ali demanded money from two employees at gunpoint.

The robbery turned into a shooting when a customer, Anwar Salah Mohammed (31), walked into the store in the middle of the robbery and was shot by Mahdi Ali. The criminal complaint against Mahdi and Ahmed Ali states that one of the two employees held hostage, Mohamed Abdi Warfa (30), chased Mahdi out of the store but was shot and killed at the doorway of the shop.

Mahdi then ran back into the store, chased down Osman Jama Elmi (28), who had been trying to make a call on his cell phone, and shot him dead. Osman Elmi and Mohamed Warfa were cousins, wherein Elmi worked at the Seward Market and Halal Meats at E. Franklin and 25th Aves, while Warfa visited him to offer him a hot cup of Somali tea.

The stretch on Franklin Avenue was flooded with news vans and onlookers after the incident. A relative of another shooting victim, Hindia Ali, spoke to MPR News and said,

"Nobody wants to hear someone who has a business and gets killed in their business. So this is a very sad night for the Somali community and something we don't even need right now."

The two 17-year-old men, Ahmed Shire Ali and Mahdi Hassan Ali, were charged with first-degree murder and automatically subject to trials as adults, per MPR News. Mahdi Hassan Ali was sentenced to life for the murders at Seward Market and Halal Meat, while Ahmed Shire Ali was sentenced to 12 years in prison.