Edmonton’s Somali community is bracing for more tears and heartache after the seventh shooting death of a young man from their homeland in 16 months.

The body of 21-year-old Abdulaziz Osman Isse was found Thursday behind a dumpster at a synagogue in an upscale west-end neighbourhood.

And like several of the previous victims, Isse had a history with police in Ontario.

Edmonton police said yesterday that they had no previous encounters with Isse, who had arrived here recently from eastern Canada.

But Toronto police spokesman Mark Rugash said Isse was known to them, although he couldn’t provide any details.

Edmonton’s gang and drug investigators are watching the case closely, but police spokeswoman Karen Carlson said yesterday that no connection to organized crime has been confirmed.

Isse’s body was found at 8:45 a.m. by a staff member at Beth Israel Synagogue, 131 Wolf Willow Rd.

Police believe Isse was killed where his body was found, but don’t think there’s any connection between the synagogue and the homicide.

“He had not been there for very long,” Carlson said.

Asked if police had any suspects, she replied that investigators are following leads but “no one is in custody at this point.”

They’re still asking anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area — or anyone who knows anything about Isse’s activities in the days leading up to his killing — to call them.

While cops said yesterday they’ve found nothing to connect Isse’s death with any previous homicides in the city, the case is eerily similar to a string of shooting deaths that have horrified local Somali-Canadians.

Between August 2008 and last May, they mourned the deaths of six young men — five in Edmonton and one in Fort McMurray. All of them were shot to death, moved recently from Ontario and several had ties to the drug trade.

After the deaths, several members of the community — who were frustrated by what they felt was indifference from city police — banded together and met police Chief Mike Boyd.

Charges have been laid in only one of the slayings.

A spokesman for the local Somali cultural society said it would try to comfort Isse’s family.

“We always extend a helping hand when it’s needed by families,” said Mohamed Abdi of the Somali-Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton.

The society runs several programs to keep young people away from the lure of crime and gangs, he said.

For example, it runs an after-school homework club to help kids keep up their marks.

“Sometimes, young people struggle and then fail academically,” he said. “That’s one of the ways they can get attracted to gangs. There’s the lure of easy money, a sense of identity. They don’t realize that later on, they pay the price. We try to give them alternatives.”

Here’s a list of the previous victims.

- Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, 24, shot and killed outside the River Cree Resort and Casino on Aug. 24, 2008.

- Nasir Mohamed Said, 22, shot to death behind Balwin School on Sept. 16, 2008.

- Abas Akubar, 21, shot and found Oct. 31 in a park near 140 Avenue and 92 Street

- Daniel Asarfo-Adjei, 17, was shot dead in Fort McMurray on Nov. 9

- Abdul Kadir Mohamoud, 23, shot and left in a field in Grand Truck Park on Dec. 2, 2008

- Ahmed Mohammed Abdirahman, 21, was also killed Dec. 2 by a bullet in a parking lot near 148 Avenue and 88A Street

- Mohamad Farah Khalif, 20, was shot to death on April 26, 2009, in Hermitage Park.

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