Abdirahman Mahmoud, 36, appeared in Cumberland County Superior Court on Monday. It was his first court appearance since being charged with murder in the shooting death of Raoul Tshiyuka in Portland on Saturday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
Authorities have impounded the affidavit used to issue an arrest warrant in a fatal shooting near the Union Station Plaza Shopping Center in Portland early Saturday, leaving questions about how police connected the suspect and the victim unanswered.
Abdirahman Mahmoud, 36, was arrested Saturday evening and charged with murder after police searched three homes in Portland and South Portland earlier that day. He made his initial court appearance Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court. He did not have to enter a plea and his attorney, Randall Bates, declined to answer questions about the allegations afterward.
Mahmoud was being held at the Cumberland County Jail without bail.
He faces a charge of murder in the death of 30-year-old Raoul Tshiyuka, whom police said they found shot a little after 1 a.m. in the vicinity of 263 St. John St., near Burundi Coffee and Huong’s Vietnamese restaurant. Neither business was open at the time.
Many other businesses are within eyeshot of the scene, including American Pool & Billiards, which was open just before the shooting. A man opening the bar Monday afternoon said he couldn’t talk about the incident at this time and he wasn’t there Saturday morning. Several businesses with surveillance cameras said they had turned over the footage to police.
Police spent much of Saturday searching for Mahmoud, although it’s unclear how they identified him as a suspect. SWAT teams searched properties at Wainwright Circle East in South Portland and Wellesley Estates in Portland before police say they learned Mahmoud was at 224 Ocean Ave. in Portland.
It’s also unclear whether police believe the men knew each other and what led to the shooting. A police affidavit supporting Mahmoud’s arrest is impounded.
A GoFundMe set up to support Tshiyuka’s family had raised $6,000 by Monday afternoon. A reporter was unable to reach Tshiyuka’s family or friends.
Bates, Mahmoud’s attorney, said he doesn’t believe his client has any criminal history, according to what his family has said. A background check with the state Bureau of Identification showed Mahmoud has no convictions in Maine.
Bates told Superior Justice John O’Neil on Monday that he plans to argue for better bail conditions later on.
“This is his first time being arrested,” Bates said. “He’s got a business out there he needs to get back to.”
Mahmoud is the owner of Go Transportation LLC in Portsmouth, according to business records from the New Hampshire Secretary of State.
In 2022, Mahmoud was the victim of a shooting in the Old Port.
He was with a group inside a bar when witnesses told police they got in an argument with another group. When the confrontation moved outside, police said Tyreese Vargas, who was 19 at the time, pulled out a gun and fired it several times at Mahmoud. The shots also injured a bystander, Kali Perry, who was 22.
Vargas was charged with attempted murder, two counts of elevated aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a firearm and two counts of violating the condition of release. He has been held at the Cumberland County Jail since his arrest that September, according to the jail’s inmate list.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
