Gardaí appeal to Somali people after man’s death in Waterford

Body of Abdi Rasheed Kaaheen Shire found in flat on Wellington Street on Wednesday

Gardaí investigating the murder of man in a flat in Waterford city are trying to establish his last movements before his death.

The body of Somalian national Abdi Rasheeh Kaaheen Shire was found in a flat at Wellington Square in Ballybricken at around 9.20am on Wednesday.

Gardaí and the emergency services had been called to the flat and a doctor pronounced Mr Shire dead at the scene.

His body was removed to University Hospital Waterford and on Thursday State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a postmortem on his remains.

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Following the postmortem, the results of which are not being released for operational reasons, gardaí upgraded their inquiry to a murder investigation.

Detectives are working with a Garda Ethnic Liaison officer to speak with the 30 or so members of the Somalian community living in Waterford to see if they can assist the investigation.

It is understood that Mr Shire – who was single – had been living in Waterford for the past seven or eight years.

However, gardaí would not say if Mr Shire was living in the ground floor flat or visiting and would not be drawn on whether there was any sign of a forced entry at the flat, which remained cordoned off for forensic examination yesterday.

Investigators have been harvesting CCTV footage from the Wellington Square area and around the city centre and have a confirmed sighting of Mr Shire in the city centre on the morning of May 24th.

Supt Chris Delaney confirmed that this was the last independent confirmed sighting of him alive but they have appealed to anyone who may have seen him since then to contact them.

Officers have also been carrying out door to door inquiries in the Wellington Square and Wellington Street areas to see if anyone noticed anything suspicious in the area over the last few days.

Anyone with information, particularly members of the Somalian community in Ireland, are asked to contact Waterford Garda station on (051) 305300.