Springfield, Mo-- Springfield police are asking the FBI to join their investigation into a shooting at a Greyhound bus station. Officers say around 6:00 Thursday night [Sept. 9, 2011] Mohamed H. Dawod, 25, of Glendale Arizona shot another passenger in the back. The victim, Justin M. Hall, 32, from Ohio died at the hospital from the injuries. | Our condolences to the family and friends of this innocent bystander. |
Police say because of a language barrier they only learned Dawod's name. Several bystanders held him to the ground until police arrived. According to court documents, he asked officers to take him to the hospital for injuries he received from the struggle. After he was treated, officers say they tried to interview him at the Springfield Police Department Headquarters. "The suspect claimed he had a limited understanding of the English language and didn't fully understand his rights," the officer wrote in the probable cause statement. "Dawod was unwilling to talk with me until after he spoke with an attorney."
A spokesperson for the FBI in Kansas City says the FBI is providing assistance.
"We're trying to determine that suspect's motive, we'll look at any and all possibilities as to why he committed this act," Kansas City FBI Spokesperson Bridget Patton said. "We want to caution people to not make any snap type of judgment."
Ten separate witnesses say they did not notice the men fighting or arguing before the shooting. One passenger said she watched the suspect wander around the terminal until the call to line up to re-board the bus. "She then observed the suspect remove a silver and black handgun from a back pack he was carrying," the officer wrote. "The suspect then pointed the handgun upward while saying something. The witness could not understand what the suspect said and didn't know if he was speaking English." No matter what was said the witness said Hall didn't react or turn around. Shortly after the witness says Dawod shot him from a few feet away.
Police believe Dawod got on the Greyhound bus in Amarillo, Texas. After about 13 hours on the road, the bus stopped in Springfield for a 15 minute break. Witness Brandon Coalston says he is thankful bystanders wrestled the gun away from Dawod. "They are a good person for that it was very heroic," Coalston said. "If I was in there I would have tackled the guy too. There were babies in there."
Officer David Snider says police do not know what language Dawod was speaking. "We have no concern. This is going to be an isolated incident," Snider said. "The reason we referred to the bureau is because they have expertise. We do have a language barrier with the person we tossed in the calaboose. We asked them for some help on this."
A Greyhound front man says firearms are strictly prohibited. "At various locations we do random wanding and bag checks but I would say the most important measure we've taken is to aggressively enforce our zero tolerance policy with respect to unruly or aggressive passengers," front man Tim Stokes said. "Aggressive or threatening behavior even displayed as humor will be taken as a serious offense." Stokes says Greyhound also follows TSA's alert level color indicator. "We do have procecures in place for each level the TSA has," Stokes said.
The bus Dawod and Hall were riding was scheduled to leave Springfield and head to St. Louis. Police say its final stop was in Boston, Massachusetts.
Police are still investigating if there was any connection between Dawod and Hall. Dawod is held without bond in the Greene County Jail.
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