Protests in St. Louis after teens ‘bash man to death’ with hammers

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Zemir Begic, 32, was driving around at 1:15 a.m. in the city’s Bevo Mill neighborhood when at least three juveniles approached his vehicle and began wailing on it with hammers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The driver, a Bosnian immigrant, got out of the car to confront the assailants, who started yelling at him and pummeling him with the hammers, cops said. After the vicious onslaught was over, Begic — who had only been living in St. Louis for a year — was left battered and broken with injuries to his head, face, mouth and abdomen.

He later died at St. Louis University Hospital, according to the Dispatch.

A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old male were both in police custody Sunday evening as investigators worked to determine a motive, the Dispatch reports. Police said they also know the name of a third suspect and now believe that a fourth was involved as well.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said Begic’s killing did not appear to be motivated by race or ethnicity.

“There is no indication that the gentleman last night was targeted because he was Bosnian,” he said. “There’s no indication that they knew each other.”

Suad Nuranjkovic, 49, was riding in the passenger seat of Begic’s car at the time the unprovoked assault began. The two were on their way home from a bar when the teens bombarded them near the intersection of Gravois Avenue and Itaska Street, according to the Dispatch.

As Begic stood up to the hooligans, Nuranjkovic was able to run across the street to safety.

“I was afraid that if one of them had a gun, they were going to shoot me,” he said. “So I didn’t know what to do.”

Nuranjkovic — who is also Bosnian — has no idea why they were singled out.

“I don’t know why this is happening to Bosnians,” he said. “We could go around and shoot people, too, but we just want peace.”

Outraged Bosnians took to the streets Sunday night to voice their grievances over Begic’s murder and also bring attention to other recent aggressive acts aimed at their people — including the 2013 fatal shooting of a 19-year-old immigrant in Bevo Mill, according to the Dispatch.

Demonstrators, including Begic’s sister Denisa, marched to the location of the heinous hammer attack and called for more to be done to protect the Bosnian community from violence.

“I hope justice is served for my brother because he didn’t deserve this at all,” Denisa said. “I don’t know what to think of it. It’s so wrong what they did.”