FBI shootout with Muslim cleric lasted about 4 seconds

Paul Egan and Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The hail of gunfire that killed a Muslim cleric inside a Dearborn warehouse in October lasted only about four seconds, a person familiar with the investigation said Saturday.

More than 20 FBI agents were at the FBI-controlled warehouse near Michigan Avenue and Oakwood where Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah and his confederates were about to be arrested as part of an FBI sting operation Oct. 28.

The FBI has accused Abdullah, 53, of being the leader of a radical Muslim separatist group involved in fencing stolen goods.

Abdullah fired three shots before four of the FBI agents returned fire, resulting in Abdullah being struck more than a dozen times.

Each of the four agents fired an average of five shots each, the source said. An FBI dog was killed in the shootout.

Autopsy results are expected to be released Monday, Dearborn police said. The autopsy was completed in December, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office, but held until Dearborn police could finish their investigation.

Muslim leaders have questioned how many times Abdullah was shot, whether he suffered dog bites and if he was handcuffed after being shot. Those questions may be cleared up with the release of the autopsy.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Saturday reiterated a previous request for the U.S. Department of Justice to look into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Among the questions CAIR wants answered are whether FBI agents summoned medical help if Abdullah was still alive when agents found him, exactly how many times he was shot and where bullets struck his body.

"We want the civil rights division of the Justice Department to launch an investigation into this," Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR's Michigan office, said Saturday. "It has to be further investigated."

pegan@detnews.com (313) 222-2069