Authorities say Mahmoud Said Ali followed Anwar Osman after an airport drop-off before a shooting that investigators reconstructed through surveillance and rideshare records.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man accused of fatally shooting a longtime friend later spent time with the victim’s grieving relatives, joined a private viewing before the funeral and attended the funeral itself, according to published reports about a killing that police say began with one rideshare driver following another across the city.

Mahmoud Said Ali, 42, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon in the Aug. 4 death of 41-year-old Anwar A. Osman. Portland police said the men knew each other, while reporting cited by Law&Crime described them as longtime friends in Portland’s Somali community. Musse Olol, president of the Somali American Council of Oregon, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Ali was around Osman’s family after the killing, including during a private gathering to view Osman’s body before the funeral. Ali also attended the funeral and reportedly contributed money to a GoFundMe created to support Osman’s widow and six children.

The contact with Osman’s family came before police publicly identified Ali as the suspect. Portland police said homicide detectives spent several days following leads, examining evidence and interviewing witnesses after Osman was found mortally wounded inside his Toyota Avalon early Aug. 4. Officers arrested Ali in the early morning hours of Aug. 8 after investigators located him in northeast Portland. The sequence put an unusual element at the center of the case: Prosecutors accuse Ali of killing a man he knew, while community members say he then participated in the family’s mourning before his arrest. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive.

The investigation began at about 4:10 a.m. in Portland’s South Waterfront. A Central Precinct sergeant on routine patrol saw a vehicle that had crashed into a building in the 4000 block of South Macadam Avenue at roughly the same time emergency dispatchers were receiving reports of gunfire. Officers approached the vehicle and found Osman unconscious with gunshot wounds. They removed him from the car and attempted lifesaving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that he died from homicide by gunfire.

Police said the shooting occurred near the traffic signal at South Bancroft Street and South Macadam Avenue. Because the scene was close to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, the location initially drew attention to the federal building. Portland police said, however, that investigators found no connection between the shooting and ICE beyond the facility’s proximity to the scene. According to police, the gunman fled in another vehicle while Osman’s car rolled downhill and struck a building.

Court documents described in local and national reports gave investigators a more detailed picture of the minutes before the shooting. A 911 caller told police he was stopped behind two vehicles at a red light when he saw the driver of the rear vehicle get out and approach the driver’s side of the car ahead of him. The witness reported seeing muzzle flashes. Surveillance cameras in the area also captured a blue sport utility vehicle stopping behind Osman’s Toyota, a man leaving the SUV and approaching the Toyota before shots were fired, according to accounts of the probable cause affidavit.

The investigation then moved backward through the two drivers’ movements. Osman worked for Uber, and police obtained records showing that he had dropped off a passenger at Portland International Airport shortly before the shooting. Investigators said surveillance and company data indicated that the blue SUV began following Osman after he left the airport. When Osman stopped at a 7-Eleven, investigators said, the SUV waited in the parking lot and continued behind him when he drove away. Authorities described the SUV as trailing Osman through the remainder of his trip toward South Portland.

Police were able to connect the SUV to Ali through another rideshare company. Video showed Uber and Lyft markings on the blue Toyota Highlander, and investigators obtained information from Lyft and state motor vehicle records, according to the court-document accounts. Ali also had been working as a rideshare driver and reportedly dropped off a passenger at the airport around the same time as Osman. Surveillance footage cited by investigators showed the Highlander stop behind Osman’s car at the red light shortly before the gunfire.

Investigators allege Ali got out of the Highlander at about 4:09 a.m., walked toward Osman’s driver-side window and fired nine times. The available reports say police later interviewed Ali after his arrest and that he admitted shooting Osman, an allegation described in reporting on the probable cause materials. Ali’s not-guilty plea means the criminal accusations remain to be proved in court. Authorities have released no public explanation for why Osman was followed or why the shooting occurred.

While investigators were building the case, Osman’s family and friends were confronting the loss of a husband and father. A fundraiser organized after his death describes Osman as the father of six children, with the oldest 16, and says he had moved with his family from Egypt to Portland in search of a better future. The GoFundMe said he was working as an Uber driver when he was killed and sought money to ease the financial burden on his wife and children. By late September, the page showed more than $31,000 raised through hundreds of donations.

Ali’s alleged presence among Osman’s relatives during that period later became one of the most striking details to emerge publicly. Olol told OregonLive that the two men had known each other for years and were part of the same Somali community. According to that reporting, Ali joined relatives during a private viewing of Osman’s body, attended the funeral and made a contribution to the family fundraiser. Those actions have not been presented by police as evidence of a motive, and authorities have not publicly explained what interactions, if any, occurred between the men before the airport encounter.

Police arrested Ali at about 3:30 a.m. Aug. 8 after homicide detectives learned he was in the area of the 13100 block of Northeast Glisan Street. Members of the Special Emergency Reaction Team took him into custody with assistance from the Crisis Negotiation Team, police said. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on second-degree murder and unlawful-use-of-a-weapon charges. Ali later entered not-guilty pleas. At a court appearance, Osman’s widow, Kaltumo Osman, spoke through an interpreter and asked that the case bring justice for her and the couple’s six children.

For now, the case turns to the court system rather than the investigation that led to Ali’s arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, and prosecutors must prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Earlier reporting placed the start of his trial on Sept. 28, but no reliable same-day public report reviewed for this update confirmed that proceedings had opened as scheduled.

Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.