Somali-Canadian murder suspect flees to Somalia

TORONTO - A Somali-Canadian suspected of murder in Canada may have secretly fled to his native country Somalia, police have said, following a tragic shooting in July 2023, leading to a man-hunt for his whereabouts by security teams.

Ahmed Ali, 19, from Toronto, is accused of engaging in the fatal shooting of 44-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat. After several months of search by the security teams, police say, they do not doubt that the culprit may have escaped to Somalia, evading the security dragnet.

According to the police report, Huebner-Makurat was on her way to lunch in the area of Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue that afternoon when an altercation broke out between three males. He is facing manslaughter robbery with violence, police added.

“There was a physical altercation between three males that we believe was a robbery and it escalated into violence when two men brandished handguns and exchanged gunfire,” Marsman said.

Huebner-Makurat was hit by a stray bullet and was rushed to hospital but later died. According to the police, the suspect may have preferred to relocate to Somalia because it does not have an extradition treaty with Canada.

The police report further says another Somali-Canadian, 20-year-old Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim was arrested in August and now faces three charges, including manslaughter, robbery, and failing to comply with probation.

And now, police add, Interpol will assist them to nab the suspect so that he faces charges in Canada. The case is more or less the same as the one involving a Kenyan man, Kevin Kangethe, who reportedly killed his girlfriend Margaret Mbitu before fleeing to Kenya from the US.

After months of search, Kevin was located in a bar within Nairobi and was arrested by police, who sought 30 days to investigate the matter. But on Wednesday, the suspect mysteriously disappeared from police cells, triggering possible collusion questions with four officers arrested to explain the incident.

GAROWE ONLINE