Crash kills five young women on Lake Street in Minneapolis

Five young women who had just left Karmel Mall after having henna applied for a friend's wedding were killed Friday night when a speeding driver ran a red light and struck their car on Lake Street.

Community leaders identified the dead as Sabiriin Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Sahra Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Salma Abdikadir, 20, of Saint Louis Park; Sagal Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis; and Siham Adam, 19, of Minneapolis. Three of the women were cousins; one was an extended relative; and the fifth was a friend.

Ali had just graduated from Edina High School and was planning to attend the University of Minnesota, where she aspired to study medicine. Gesaade was a third-year student at the U's Rochester campus, and Abdikadir was a sophomore at Normandale Community College. Adam attended the U, and Hersi was a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

"These are pearls of our community. They leave a big void," said Khalid Omar, director of Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, where the five attended services and volunteered for many years. "All five of them had bright futures."

Omar said Ali and her mother acted as diligent caretakers of the mosque. Abdikadir also volunteered there, teaching young children how to read and write Arabic as part of their Islamic studies.

On Friday, the women were doing some last-minute shopping at the mall and having henna applied for a close friend's wedding Saturday night before heading home.

"They weren't doing anything wrong," Omar said. "They were just getting ready for their friend's wedding."

As they drove down Lake Street, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper saw an SUV speeding north on Interstate 35W, near the 46th Street exit in south Minneapolis, just after 10 p.m. The vehicle passed the trooper at more than 40 mph above the posted speed limit of 55 mph, said Howie Padilla, a Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman.

The SUV exited the highway before the trooper could try to pull it over, Padilla said. The driver then ran a red light at Lake Street and S. 2nd Avenue and broadsided the car carrying the women.

All five were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

"The whole community is mourning this loss," said Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman, whose Sixth Ward is home to the Twin Cities' largest East African community. "It's heartbreaking. These girls had a lot of life ahead of them."

Their burials were expected to be Monday afternoon at the Garden of Eden Islamic Cemetery in Burnsville, he said.

An online fundraiser for the victims' families had raised more than $175,000 as of Saturday evening. Osman thanked the community for their outpouring of love and support following the tragedy.

Osman said he learned of the crash from police Third Precinct Inspector Jose Gomez, who sent him a late-night text message. He later heard that the suspect was driving so fast that the collision pushed the women's vehicle more than 50 feet.

Though police have not publicly named the driver, two sources identified him as 27-year-old Derrick John Thompson, of Brooklyn Park. Public records indicate that he is the son of former state Rep. John Thompson, DFL-St. Paul. John Thompson did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The suspect, who was also injured during the impact, fled on foot to a nearby Taco Bell. Bystanders called police, who arrested the driver late Friday.

He was taken to HCMC, where he was tested for drugs or alcohol, police said. He remains hospitalized.

"I hope they try everything they can to bring justice to this family and this community," said Osman, who condemned the uptick in reckless driving that puts citizens' lives at risk.

"I talked to the chief and said, 'Something has to be done. We gotta make sure we're enforcing the traffic laws.' "

Thompson has a long history of driving-related offenses, including multiple convictions for driving with a revoked or suspended license, according to state court and Department of Public Safety records. His license was reinstated in March 2023 and remained active at the time of the crash.

Staff writers Kyeland Jackson and Paul Walsh contributed to this report.