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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Mall killers father "happy" for community bringing flowers to his door -fellow mosque goers call shootings "a low point for us Muslims"

Mall killers father "happy" for community bringing flowers to his door -fellow mosque goers call shootings "a low point for us Muslims"

February 17, 2007

Talovic's body to go back to Bosnia
By Nate Carlisle
and Russ Rizzo
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated:02/17/2007 12:57:37 AM MST
The body of Sulejman Talovic - who shot nine people at Trolley Square, killing five - has been released to his family.
The Talovic family is preparing to transport the body to Bosnia-Herzegovina for burial, his aunt said Friday.
Ajka Omerovic said her family is trying to complete paperwork to facilitate the overseas burial. She said the body, which is in a mortuary, will be transported "hopefully next week."
Talovic's family, who were forced from their hometown in 1993 at the height of the Bosnian war, emigrated to the United States in the late 1990s. The gunman's father, Suljo Talovic, has said he wants to bury his only son in Tuzla, which is Bosnia's most ethnically diverse city.
Suljo Talovic's friends, who spoke to him after a Friday afternoon prayer service at Salt Lake City's Al-Noor mosque, said he was still trying to figure out arrangements for sending his son's body back to Bosnia.
The cost of transporting a body to the Balkans is approximately $5,000, said Travis Greenwood, director of Larkin Mortuary, which is not handling arrangements for Talovic's body.
Suljo Talovic said he and his wife are still trying to cope with Monday's events. He said his wife, Sabira, suffered a heart attack about 5 a.m. Tuesday, three hours after police informed them their son was the Trolley Square shooter.
At the mosque Friday, Suljo Talovic sat on his feet among about 90 other Muslim men and boys from Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries as Tariq Kergaye, an Iraqi member of the mosque, offered a sermon that touched on the tragedy.
Kergaye called the shooting "a low point for us Muslims."
After the services, a somber Suljo Talovic thanked the community for its support.
"I'm so happy for these people, Utah people," he told the Tribune. "They bring flowers to my door."
On Friday, police revealed no new clues about what motivated Sulejman Talovic to kill.
The only clues to date are a tumultuous childhood - he was 5 when his family became victims of "ethnic cleansing" - followed by a difficult adjustment to life in Utah as a refugee.
The Tribune reported Thursday that he was prosecuted in juvenile court at age 10 and 12 for rock-throwing and knife-wielding incidents. He also reportedly threatened his landlord with a knife.
And KSL-Radio reported Friday that Talovic violated school rules when he looked up AK-47s on the Internet in November 2004, after which he dropped out of school and went to work to help support his family.
Talovic apparently had no close friends and lacked a social support network.
Nedim Mustafic, 17, also a Bosnian refugee, said he never knew Talovic well but noticed a change in him over the past few years.
Speaking outside the mosque, Mustafic said Talovic was "more energetic" when he was younger. He had grown quiet of late.
"He didn't talk much," Mustafic said. "But he seemed like a down-to-earth person."
Bosnians in Utah, most of whom are Muslim as a result of the Ottoman Empire's historic rule over the Balkans, fear Talovic's actions will lead to persecution.
Talovic, Mustafic said, "was an individual who had problems, and he didn't deal with them well."
Though Suljo Talovic is a regular at the Al-Noor mosque, other regulars said they didn't know Sulejman Talovic. Through his broken English, Halim Huremovic, 73, weighed in to say that incidents such as the Trolley Square shooting are unheard of in Bosnia.
"Never, never, never," said Huremovic, now a U.S. citizen, who praised his new homeland. "Salt Lake City, the people, this government - it's nice, nice, nice, nice people."
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* JESSICA RAVITZ contributed to this story.

* Zions Bank has established two accounts, one in injured mother Carolyn Tuft's name and the other in her 15-year-old daughter's name, Kirsten Hinckley, a Brighton High sophomore who died. Donations can be made at any Utah branch.
* Zions Bank also has created a fund for injured A.J. Walker, 16. Donations may be made in care of his mother, Vickie Walker.
* To honor victim Vanessa Antrobus Quinn, a scholarship fund has been created. Donations can be made to the Vanessa Quinn Memorial, account No. 9031592, accepted at any America First Credit Union branch; or c/o Eagle Savings, 6415 Bridgetown Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45248. Checks should be made to: Eagle Savings/Vanessa Antrobus Quinn Scholarship Fund.
* Chase Bank, where Teresa Blair Ellis worked as an assistant manager in the West Valley City branch, has set up a memorial fund to be directed by her family. Donations can be made at any branch office in her name.
* The family of Brad Frantz has set up a trust fund for his 3-year-old daughter, Deijah Isabel O'Neill. Donations, which should be made using the child's full name, can be made at any U.S. Bank branch.
* A fund has been established to help defray medical expenses of Stacy Hanson, who was critically injured in the Trolley Square shootings. To contribute to the fund, which is under Hanson's name, contact Zions Bank.
* Wells Fargo Bank has established the Trolley Square Memorial Fund to benefit the families of all of the shooting victims. Donations can be made at any Utah branch.

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