Police have arrested a man for the October 2011 shooting death of a 28-year-old man outside the Lincoln Motor Hotel. Mohamed Ali Omar died Oct. 30 after he was shot in the hotel parking lot at McPhillips Street and Mountain Avenue. Omar was a hospital cleaner and a father of four who police say had links to the African Mafia street gang -- though his family told the Free Press they didn't consider him gang-affiliated. Sgt. Ross Read of the homicide unit said police arrested Abdul Bangura, 26, near Louelda Avenue and Antrim Street Tuesday afternoon. Bangura is charged with second-degree murder in Omar's death and attempted murder for injuries a 17-year-old youth suffered in the shooting. "I think we can say at this time... without getting into the motives of the homicide, we can confirm that gang members or associates are involved on both sides of this," Read said. Last year, police said the shooting happened after a man in an SUV pulled up and fired a gun at a group of men who had left the hotel and were preparing to drive off. Officers said then they were seeking a black man with a stocky build who may have worn a hoodie. According to an internal report by the Winnipeg Police Service on the African Mafia street gang, Bangura -- also known as "Ziggy" -- was a member of All About Money, a street gang. He also was associated at one time with the African Mafia street gang, the report said. Bangura was born in Sierra Leone, it also said. Court records obtained by the Free Press show Bangura has been convicted of a drug-related offence and violent offences. Read didn't say what the motive for the homicide was, or if it was gang-related. Police did say interviews with several witnesses were still being done. "There's so many different factions to the African Mafia gang, there's so many splinter groups," Read said. "Is (the accused) associated with those groups? Yes, he is." Read did not say if police have seized a gun related to the shooting. A relative of Omar told the Free Press they didn't want to comment on the arrest Wednesday. Omar came to Canada from Somalia when he was a child, his family said.
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