Not to far from here, this happened. Some people just need to be shot and killed for stuff like this. The way some people are, I really believe its a hate crime
Grocery store fire may be hate crime

BY QIANNA BRADLEY AND LYNN SAFRANEK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS


Federal authorities have been notified that a fire at a northeast Omaha grocery store was a possible hate crime.



Someone painted "PAY THE MONEY ROUND HEAD" on the home of Kassahun Goshime a few weeks ago. The home is just a block away from Bob's Food Mart, which was destroyed in a fire Sunday night.

Omaha police said today that race or ethnicity might have been the reason for the fire and robbery at Bob's Food Mart, said Sgt. Teresa Negron, a police spokeswoman.

Bob's Food Mart, at 16th and Fort Streets, is owned by an Ethiopian woman, Tsedey Goshime.

Her brother, Kassahun Goshime, a 40-year-old Ethiopian who has lived in the United States for nearly half his life, was working alone at the store Sunday night when the robbers reportedly entered through the front door.

The men, who Goshime told police were white, demanded money, then bound him with duct tape before fleeing. He escaped after hearing something being thrown, followed by a loud sound.

Fire investigators say Bob's Food Mart probably was destroyed by arson, but they haven't determined what caused a loud accompanying noise reported by neighbors.

"We're checking for a cause of a possible explosion," Assistant Chief Jack York said today . "We believe it's arson, and it's an ongoing investigation."

Negron declined to say exactly what led investigators to suspect that the robbery and fire were motivated by race.

However, in the past month, racial slurs have been spray-painted on Bob's Food Mart and on a home less than a block away where Goshime and his family live. The surrounding neighborhood is predominantly white.

Federal authorities are alerted any time Omaha police investigate potential hate crimes, she said.

About 10:10 p.m. Sunday, James Cudaback, 15, was walking up to the store to get a bag of chips and noticed that the store's lights were out. Cudaback, who lives two or three blocks from the store, said he thought that was unusual because the store normally stays open until 11 p.m.

Cudaback said he went across the street and was standing near a gas station when he heard an explosion. He said he was close enough to see Goshime come out the back door bound with duct tape. He then approached Goshime and asked him if he was all right.

York said Goshime, who owns the building where his sister operates her grocery store, was fortunate to escape from the store.

"When we got there, it was pretty much engulfed, and the front wall had been blown into the street," York said.

Battalion Chief Joe Mancuso said the blaze caused "a large amount of structural damage, including floor and roof collapse."

One of the store's remaining walls has racial graffiti spray-painted on it.

Patricia Shelly, who lives next door to Goshime, said she noticed the graffiti on his home about three weeks ago.

Shelly said that as far as she knows, Goshime is very polite with customers and he and his family don't bother anyone.

She said the store is important to the neighborhood because a lot of older people who can't get around use it all the time. "Whoever did that was crazy," she said.

World-Herald staff writer Abe Winter contributed to this report.

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