WISH-TV
by: Cody Adams
Tuesday September 13, 2022
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It was shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday when police responded to a call of a suspicious cab that had been parked at the 400 block of east 11th street with the door wide open for a long period of time.
When police arrived they found 55 year old muslim man, Abdukadir Filanwaa inside with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ahmed Alamine is the Imam and Director of the Indianapolis Muslim Community Association. He says this death has been difficult for the Muslim community as a whole.
“Just having someone who is going to work and never coming back home just because somebody decide to take there life, it’s very shocking and never normal,” Alamine said.
Filanwaa came to America from Somalia. Alamine says, like many Muslim immigrants Filanwaa was working as a taxi driver to provide for his family back in Somalia.
“Many Muslim community members, especially head of household, that is what they do. They drive Uber and taxi to provide for their families,” Alamine said.
Filanwaa fled from Somalia looking for a better life and an opportunity someday for his family.
“He was from Somalia, a war torn country where he fled for his safety just to be killed here in Indianapolis while doing his job,” Alamine said.
Alamine says the Indianapolis Muslim community association will honor Filanwaa’s life Tuesday. He says it’s especially important to do so because Filanwaa has no family here in the states.
“He has only one daughter who lives in the UK. We tried to get her to come over, unfortunately she will miss the funeral, but we wanted to give her the opportunity to see the grave of her father. This makes it even harder on the rest of his family in Somalia,” Alamine said.