Arson to assault to homicide? Downtown Eastside outreach worker charged with second-degree murder after body found in RV near Chilliwack
Omer Ibrahim, 44, is charged with May 2025 homicide, arson damaging property from November 2024, assault from April 2025
The man charged with second-degree murder of a 42-year-old man found in an RV near Bridal Falls during a wellness check in May 2025 had an odd interaction with RCMP officers last November that he shared on social media, and said was employed by Providence Health as a peer outreach worker in the Downtown Eastside.
Omer Yussuf Ibrahim, born 1981, was also charged with arson damaging property for an alleged incident on Nov. 23, 2024, in Chilliwack, according to court services online. Very early that same day, at 2:51 a.m., he posted an erratic two-minute, 20-second video on Twitter/X yelling that a hooded person being escorted to a police cruiser is the mother of his child. He wrote that she "was beaten by the cops Chilliwack RCMP. Now I'm worried about her safety and well-being."
The video shows an RCMP officer escorting a person with a black piece of cloth totally covering their head toward, and into, a cruiser. There are half dozen officers in the video, and the person filming, presumably Ibrahim, is yelling that the woman he says is being arrested needs medical care. He repeatedly demands all the officers' business cards, and that the video will be going to B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma, all while officers one by one calmly tell him to quiet down. One officer finally threatens arrest after two minutes of yelling.
The mother of my child was Native was beaten by the cops Chilliwack RCMP. Now I’m worried about her safety and well-being. ##NickSharmaAttorneyGeneral. pic.twitter.com/p2faeXGnsY
— @omer ibrahim (@OmerIbr98328031) November 23, 2024
In between the Nov. 23, 2024 incident and the body found on May 19, 2025, Ibrahim was also charged with assault for an alleged incident on April 17, 2025 in Chilliwack.
What the alleged arson 10 months ago, the arrest of someone that he shared on Twitter that same day, the alleged assault five months ago, and the alleged homicide four months ago have to do with one another, if anything, is far from clear.
Something Worth Reading has learned the name of the victim, a father of two from Abbotsford, but won't share it until authorities release it publicly or it is otherwise shared elsewhere by his family or friends.
As for his social media posts repeatedly stating that he works for Providence Health, when asked if he was employed there, a spokesperson said he isn't currently.
"I checked with our HR department on this and I can confirm no one of that name is currently employed by Providence Health Care," according to Shaf Hussain with Public Affairs, Communications & Stakeholder Engagement for Providence.
When asked if Ibrahim used to work for Providence, Hussain said they don’t comment on people's employment histories.
"My information to you about the person’s current employment status with Providence Health Care is accurate, yes."
Body found
The Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has not released the name of the 42-year-old person found dead by local RCMP that day.
It was Agassiz RCMP that attended the location on to conduct a wellness check on the 42-year-old man. Frontline officers found the man dead, and police have not explained what triggered the wellness check.
No further details were released until Sept. 17 when the Agassiz RCMP stated in a news release that on Sept. 12, the BC Prosecution Service charged Ibrahim with second-degree murder.
If Ibrahim's Twitter profile can be believed, it offers a deep if cryptic dive into the man's history over the last five years. An immigrant from Somalia, his posts include comments on politics in that country, but mostly shares positive stories about people doing good things helping on the Downtown Eastside.
One post about Somalia is particularly cryptic as he states that he arrived in Canada in 1995. There is a full year gap in his posts from October 2023 when he reshared photos of him with provincial Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside to Oct. 3, 2024 when he discusses a name mix-up with his father and a Somali "dictator" that he claims delayed his application for citizenship.
"I’ve been in Canada since 1995. Immigration translator was a Somali man that’s was from different tribe. My dad had similar name as this dictator. Two and [half] years ago this man who was the perpetrator was arrested in the United States."
He links to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) media release about the arrest by ICE of a former high-ranking Somali army officer, Yusuf Abdi Ali, who was accused of human rights violations against Somali civilians during the 1980s.
His next Tweet was the video seen above of the arrest in Chilliwack on Nov. 23, 2024. His final post later that day was a selfie showing only his forehead and a bus-stop sign for the Fraser Valley Express in which he says only "FYI at the bus stop."
FYI at the bus stop pic.twitter.com/JMJOBc8DSy
— @omer ibrahim (@OmerIbr98328031) November 24, 2024
Ibrahim next court appearance facing the assault and arson charges is on Sept. 23. He remains in custody, detained on the homicide charge.
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Paul J. Henderson
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