Muslim, Somali communities call arrest in imam’s death a relief, but police say more involved

Those who knew a local Muslim imam and pillar of the Somali community expressed relief Friday after Columbus police said they have arrested and charged a Franklinton man they say is responsible for the fatal shooting of Mohamed Hassan Adam in December.

Adam’s daughter, Shukri Hassan, said Thursday — when family members learned of the arrest — was a good day in a difficult time.

“I hope that we receive justice,” she said. “We cannot sit down and sit back until that time.”
John W. Wooden Jr., 46, of Franklinton, has been charged with murder in connection with the Dec. 24 death of the 48-year-old Adam, according to Franklin County court records.

Detective Earl Westfall, the lead investigator on the case, said Friday he believes at least one other person, and possibly more, were involved in Adam’s homicide, saying the investigation is not over.

Westfall said Wooden and Adam are believed to have been engaged in a business transaction and had minimal prior contact with each other before the shooting. He declined to say what the transaction was about.

Horsed Noah, outreach director at the Somali Islamic Centers of Ohio and an imam in his own right, said his community appreciates police sticking to their word of making solving Adam’s homicide a priority.

“They fulfilled their word,” Noah said. “We know the investigation could take a while and we’re eagerly waiting until (Wooden’s) convicted.”

Noah said the last two months since Adam’s death have been trying.

“It was really stressful days … it was many sleepless nights for me,” Noah said. “I lost a personal friend, mentor and colleague. The community he built, the students he mentored were all very stressed and shocked.”

As news has spread of Wooden’s arrest, Noah said the entire community is buzzing, calling it a “bright morning.”

Amina Barhumi, the acting executive director of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the last two months since Adam’s death have been an “emotional rollercoaster.”

“There is a sense of relief that there are some questions that are being answered. An arrest is definitely step in the right direction,” she said.

Adam was found dead inside a van behind a chain link fence on the 1400 block of Windsor Avenue on the city’s North Side. An autopsy revealed he had been shot multiple times.

Adam, who was an imam at Masjid Abu Hurairah mosque on the city’s Northeast Side, had last been seen on Dec. 22, when he left home to pick up his child from a day care center on Oakland Park Avenue.

Members of Adam’s family and the communities he served began a search for Adam and the van that ultimately led to them discovering his body on Dec. 24. Several hundred members of the Islamic and Somali communities then gathered in the area to mourn and pray as police investigated.

Wooden has been in the Franklin County jail on a federal charge of weapons possession by a convicted felon since his arrest Feb. 18 outside the North Guilford Avenue home where he had been living. He is scheduled to have his first court appearance on the murder charge on Saturday morning.

Federal court records show Wooden had been released from federal prison in March 2021 after serving more than 10 years for a federal robbery conviction.

Westfall said Wooden is suspected in other violent crimes since his release, but did not elaborate on the specifics.
After Columbus police identified Wooden as a suspect in the homicide of Adam, a search warrant was executed at the home where he was living by a Columbus police SWAT team.

During that search, a shotgun was found in the basement area where Wooden was living, and a loaded handgun was found underneath a pair of women’s underwear in a basket that was in the kitchen area, records state.

Wooden, who arrived at the home while the search warrant was being executed, was taken into custody without incident and has been held in the county jail on the federal charge since his arrest last week.

Columbus police said that working in conjunction with the ATF on the Crime Gun Task Force helped identify Wooden as the suspected killer.

A ballistics match confirmed the handgun found in the kitchen was the weapon used to kill Adam, according to court records.

“Some things were moved in a lot faster direction than they normally would be,” Westfall said of the quick ballistic testing to match the gun to evidence recovered in the case.

Adam was remembered by hundreds who gathered at his funeral. The case has drawn international attention and a $20,000 reward had been offered by the Ohio chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations for information leading to an arrest.

Police released a 15-second video clip in January of someone — not Adam — driving the van he was last seen in.

Westfall said he believes Wooden is the person driving the van in the video, but because the facial features of the person cannot be clearly seen, he can’t say definitively.

Westfall said he believes at least one other person, and possibly more, were involved in Adam’s homicide, saying the investigation is not over.

Mourners pray during a memorial service Dec. 30 for slain Imam Mohamed Hassan Adam held at IbnuTaymiyah Masjid and Islamic Center in Columbus.

Several people within the Muslim and Somalian communities had reached out to The Dispatch expressing concerns over how Columbus police initially had handled the investigation into Adam’s missing persons report.

Hassan Omar, president of the Somali Community Association of Ohio, said Friday that the dedication of Columbus police to find Adam’s killer dispelled any suggestions that police didn’t treat the Somali community the same as others.

“Columbus is our city, Columbus police are our police, we trust them,” Omar said.
While the investigation was ongoing, Omar said there were concerns in the Somali and Muslim communities about who might be next, especially without knowing whether the attack was related to Adam’s faith or leadership.

Westfall said Friday there is no indication that Adam was targeted because of his faith or being a member of the Somali community.

Omar said the larger community, dozens of whom gathered at city hall Friday with members of Adam’s family to hear the formal announcement of the arrest of a suspect formally announced, has let out a collective sigh of relief.

“It took some pressure off,” Omar said. “Today’s a dream come true.”