Timothy Birdnow

A taxi driver in St. Louis County shot and killed a passenger after being made fearful for his life. The passenger - Ahmad Saramah - died of his injuries.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"St. Louis County Police were called to the shooting scene, west of Jennings Station Road, about 1 a.m. and found a 48-year-old man dead in the back seat of a taxi minivan. The man, Ahmad Saramah, was pronounced dead by paramedics from Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District.

The taxi driver, 70, was still at the scene and was taken into custody, police said. Police said the driver told them an altercation broke out between him and the passenger as they were westbound on Interstate 70.

The taxi driver told police he feared for his life and shot the victim in self-defense. The driver is cooperating with investigators, according to police.

Saramah lived in the 8400 block of Bayberry Drive in Berkeley"

End excerpt.

Now, taxi drivers are not often accused of murdering their fares, so one must wonder about what happened here, but it seems likely to me that the victim - a man with the Islamic name of Ahmad Saramah - did in fact threaten the unnamed driver.

Berkeley is a predominantly black neighborhood in north St. Louis County. It neighbors the city of Ferguson.

Was Saramah a Black Lives Matter guy? A black Muslim perhaps? The lack of detail in this story (and the stories by other news outlets I checked) suggest the police are trying to keep this story largely under wraps. I wonder what was said and done to frighten the cabbie?

I suspect we will never know. One thing is certain; this victim was not a Tea Partier.

In an unrelated but equally bizzare story, a man from st. Louis County attacked four homeless people in an abandoned school just north of the downtown area of the City of St. Louis.

Also from the Post-Dispatch:

"Edward Moore, 61, is facing four counts each of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He was ordered held with bail set at $500,000 cash. Police gave an address for Moore in the 12100 block of Epernay Court in Maryland Heights.

Police say Moore attacked two homeless men and two homeless women who were sleepingin the vacant Carr School building at 15th and Carr streets about 9 a.m. Saturday. A woman was in critical and unstable condition after the attack, and a man was in critical but stable condition, authorities said. The other two victims were said to be stable, but no medical condition was provided.

Homicide detectives are handling the investigation due to the severity of the injuries.

The victims range in age from 29 to 39."

How does a middle aged man assault FOUR young people with a hammer? And why was he wandering around inside an abandoned building in a bad part of town?

This is a story to keep an eye on, too.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 12:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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