SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A 17-year-old Somali refugee critically wounded in a high-profile police shooting in Utah fled to the U.S. from a refugee camp where food was scarce, scorpions scurried everywhere and a toilet was a hole in the ground.
Cousin Muslima Weledi remembered the family’s journey to Utah where the teenager is now hospitalized – and the latest flashpoint in the discussion about police use of force.
Weledi says that Mohamed’s life turned when their grandpa and father figure lost his memory in a car accident. The teen had been in trouble before, but nothing prepared his family for the news that he’d been shot by police Feb. 27.
His family and friends are pushing police for answers.
Police say Mohamed and a second person were beating a man with metal sticks.