SASKATOON — The death of a Somali man who plummeted from the balcony of a downtown Saskatoon apartment building last week remains shrouded in mystery after police released surveillance footage Thursday of five men entering the building shortly before the fall.

It’s still uncertain how Ahmed Abdi Mohamud, a 20-year-old who family friends say arrived in Saskatoon from Toronto less than a week prior to the incident, ended up falling to his death. But police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the men — potentially connected to the suspicious death — who appear in the surveillance camera images.

“These (five men) are not being called suspects; they’re being called persons of interest,” said police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards. “They may have information that is useful to us.”

In eight photos released Thursday, the men are shown together on July 20 entering the eight-storey apartment building in the city’s downtown around 11:30 p.m.

The first man to enter is carrying a small black bag and wearing black cut-off shorts; another man wears an Atlanta Braves baseball jersey; a third wears a faded fluorescent green shirt with “Carolina” lettering; and the last man to enter wears an Adidas jumpsuit, a black hat and black gloves.

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Mahamud’s body was found in the building’s parking lot just before midnight, after a passerby called to report a man on the ground.

Autopsy results indicate Mohamud suffered injuries “consistent with a fall,” but police still don’t know if he was pushed, jumped, or if the fall were accidental, Edwards said.

“This is another extension of the type of investigation that’s been conducted up to this point,” she said. “Investigators are simply trying to gather as much information as possible.”

Mahamud was buried last week, his mother flying across the country to attend the funeral service at the Saskatoon Islamic Centre mosque.

Mahamud’s mother declined comment when contacted in Toronto Thursday, saying she too remains in the dark.

“Talk to the police,” she said. “I know nothing.”

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Vancouver Sun

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