St. Louis police: Man beaten to death with hammers

[lostinblue 1,989]

St. Louis police: Man beaten to death with hammers

Posted: Nov 30, 2014 3:41 PM EST Updated: Nov 30, 2014 3:41 PM EST

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two juveniles are in custody in St. Louis after a Florida man was beaten to death with hammers.

Police say 32-year-old Zemir Begic of Miami suffered injuries to his head, abdomen, face and mouth in the attack. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Authorities say Begic was in his car about 1:15 a.m. Sunday when several young people approached and began damaging it. When Begic got out, he was attacked with at least two hammers.

The two juveniles in custody are ages 15 and 16. A motive for the attack has not been released.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/27510380/st-louis-police-man-beaten-to-death-with-hammers

joelcurrier ✔ @joelcurrier

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Some protesters are frustrated with #stl violence against Bosnians after man attacked overnight by teens w hammers.

7:02 PM - 30 Nov 2014

61 Retweets 24 favorites

Near neighborhood in St Louis settled by Bosnian Muslims when US opened door to Bosnian Refugees

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Key information is missing. What color were the people involved?

[Darnell 8,478]

a race attack? [on a Bosnian Muslim in STL] .. hmm

[eieio 1,594]

Tragic? Yes, but there is not enough info in this story to know what really happened and why.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Tragic? Yes, but there is not enough info in this story to know what really happened and why.

Exactly. He may have done something to deserve to be beaten to death.

[eieio 1,594]

Exactly. He may have done something to deserve to be beaten to death.

You never know

He might have raped one of the attackers three year old girl and then beheaded her. I would understand such retaliation.I would like to know all the facts.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Ban hammers!

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Exactly. He may have done something to deserve to be beaten to death.

Probably driving while white

[Ban Hammer 13,406]

Ban hammers!

easy to do - just paint them black and call them assault hammers.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Teens beat motorist to death with hammers in St. Louis | TwitchyPolice said Begic was in his vehicle in the 4200 block of Itaska about 1:15 a.m. when several juveniles approached on foot and began damaging it. Begic got out and the juveniles began yelling at him and striking him with hammers. Two male juveniles, 16 and 15, were taken into custody.

Two were caught and taken into juvenile custody. Police are still searching for two others, a 16-year-old black male and a 15-year-old Hispanic.

http://kplr11.com/2014/11/30/man-dies-after-being-struck-by-hammers/

Michael Calhoun @michaelcalhoun

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Bosnians are protesting in Bevo. One woman tells me they fled genocide and are now being killed in St. Louis.

8:50 PM - 30 Nov 2014St Louis, MO, United States

[Teddy B 17,252]

Teens beat motorist to death with hammers in St. Louis | TwitchyPolice said Begic was in his vehicle in the 4200 block of Itaska about 1:15 a.m. when several juveniles approached on foot and began damaging it. Begic got out and the juveniles began yelling at him and striking him with hammers. Two male juveniles, 16 and 15, were taken into custody.

Two were caught and taken into juvenile custody. Police are still searching for two others, a 16-year-old black male and a 15-year-old Hispanic.

http://kplr11.com/2014/11/30/man-dies-after-being-struck-by-hammers/

Michael Calhoun @michaelcalhoun

Follow

Bosnians are protesting in Bevo. One woman tells me they fled genocide and are now being killed in St. Louis.

8:50 PM - 30 Nov 2014St Louis, MO, United States

Why this guy ever got out of his car is beyond me. Two words: Gas pedal.

[Operator 1,927]

Why this guy ever got out of his car is beyond me. Two words: Gas pedal.

...or in other words, hammer down?

[Teddy B 17,252]

...or in other words, hammer down?

Werd!

[lostinblue 1,989]

Zemir Begic, 32, with wife, Arijana

UPDATED at 1:35 p.m. with statement from police

ST. LOUIS • A police spokeswoman said investigators do not believe race played a role in the bludgeoning death of a Bosnian immigrant early Sunday, but declined to say what police believe is the motive in the killing.

Many at the scene of the murder near Gravois Avenue and Itaska Street speculated that the three teenagers who beat Zemir Begic, 32, to death with hammers targeted him because of his Bosnian descent.

Schron Jackson said detectives do not believe Begic's Bosnian heritage or the color of his skin served as a motive in any way.

Police have all three suspects in custody.

Police arrested two suspects, ages 15 and 16 Sunday. A 17-year-old male suspect in the deadly hammer attack over the weekend in the Bevo Mill neighborhood turned himself into city police headquarters late Sunday night, police say.

Homicide detectives plan to pursue charges against the suspects today.

Earlier story:

St. Louis Bosnians outraged about a deadly hammer attack in the city’s Bevo Mill neighborhood spilled into the streets Sunday night to voice frustrations over violence touching their community.

“We’re just angry because we’re trying to protect our community,” said Mirza Nukic, 29, of St. Louis. “We’re just trying to be peaceful.”

Nukic was among at least 50 people, mostly, if not all Bosnians, who briefly blocked Gravois Avenue at Itaska Street on Sunday night to protest the killing. The intersection was near where Zemir Begic, a Bosnian man who moved to St. Louis this year, was attacked by at least three teens with hammers early Sunday.

Police said Begic was in his vehicle about 1:15 a.m. in the 4200 block of Itaska when several juveniles approached and began damaging his car. Police said Begic got out to confront the juveniles, who began yelling at him and hitting him with hammers.

Begic, 32, who lived in the 4200 block of Miami Street, suffered injuries to his head, abdomen, face and mouth. He died at St. Louis University Hospital.

Some of the demonstrators recalled other recent Bosnian victims of violence, including Haris Gogic, 19, who was fatally shot in May 2013 by a robber in his family’s Bevo Mill convenience store.

St. Louis police Chief Sam Dotson spoke with residents at the street protest Sunday night. He said he was sorry about what happened and sought to reassure people the killing did not appear motivated by race or ethnicity.

“There is no indication that the gentleman last night was targeted because he was Bosnian,” Dotson said. “There’s no indication that they knew each other.”

Dotson said Sunday evening that police have two male juveniles, ages 15 and 16, in custody. A third male, 17, was taken into custody late Sunday night.

Dotson also promised to increase day and night foot patrols in the area.

“The whole idea of standing out in the street is to get our attention,” Dotson told residents. “You got my attention. You absolutely did.”

Suad Nuranjkovic, 49, who attended Sunday night’s protest, said he and Begic were heading home from a bar on Gravois Avenue. Begic was driving and Nuranjkovic was in the passenger seat when a group of at least five teens started banging on the car. Nuranjkovic said he got out of the car and hid in a parking lot across the street during the attack.

“I was afraid that if one of them had a gun, they were going to shoot me, so I didn’t know what to do,” he said.

Nuranjkovic said the attack has made him fearful to live in his own neighborhood.

“The picture is in my head, what I saw,” he said. “I don’t know why this is happening to Bosnians. We could go around and shoot people, too, but we just want peace.”

Seldin Dzananovic, 24, said the teens with the hammers approached him farther north on Gravois about an hour before the attack on Begic. He said he was able to fight them off, suffering only cuts to his hands and neck.

“I’m just lucky,” he said. “God is on my side.”

Begic and his family came to the United States from Bosnia in 1996, moving first to Utica, N.Y., before settling in Waterloo, Iowa, said his sister, Denisa Begic. She said he moved to Phoenix, where he worked as a moving truck driver before returning briefly to Iowa. He moved to St. Louis several months ago and married a woman, Arijana, whose family lives in St. Louis.

Singing was one of his passions, and he often performed in public.

“He loved America,” said Denisa Begic, 23, of Sioux Falls, S.D. “We come from Bosnia because we were getting killed and our homes and families were getting destroyed. Never in my life did I think he would get murdered.”

She said she knows some Bosnians are upset over her brother’s death because they believe the suspects, who are black and Hispanic, targeted Begic because he was Bosnian. She said she wants people to know her brother would not have judged them because of their race; he had friends of many racial and ethnic backgrounds.

“He loved everybody,” she said. “I don’t know what to think of it. It’s so wrong what they did. They didn’t just hurt Zemir’s family. They also hurt their own family because I’m pretty sure their moms will never see them again.”

Denisa Begic said her brother’s funeral would be in Iowa, and that a fundraising site has been set up to help with funeral expenses.

“I hope justice is served for my brother because he didn’t deserve this at all,” she said.

Denise Hollinshed of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Joel Currier is a crime and police reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/motorist-beaten-to-death-by-several-juveniles-with-hammers-teens/article_9f15bf49-c8b7-5bc3-8671-ac291f666084.html

Edited December 1, 2014 by lostinblue

[LibCampFireClub 635]

ST. LOUIS • A police spokeswoman said investigators do not believe race played a role in the bludgeoning death of a Bosnian immigrant early Sunday, but declined to say what police believe is the motive in the killing.

This is a US Justice Department and White House narrative designed to censor the truth.

A 32 year-old unarmed Bosnian man was beaten to death with hammers by at least three black teenagers in South St. Louis early Sunday morning. Two teens, 15 and 16, were arrested.

...

The motive for the hammer attack has not been released, but it would not be a stretch to link the violence to Ferguson.

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/11/30/Black-Teens-In-St-Louis-Murder-Unarmed-Bosnian-Man-In-Brutal-Hammer-Attack