On 03/16/2026, at approximately 0241 hours, St. Paul Police were dispatched to a Weapons complaint at the McDonald's located on [ADDRESS REDACTED] in St. Paul, Ramsey County. Upon arrival, police spoke to three employees who all said that a white sedan with multiple occupants pulled into the drive-through lane and tried to order an item that was not available. The occupants of the vehicle then all began arguing with staff through the drive-through speaker and then threatened them. One employee, MS, said the occupants sounded like they were Somali and they said "I'll shoot this b**** up", "Come outside," and other similar threats.
All three employees then heard the sound of a firearm slide being racked through their work headsets. That is when the three employees stepped back from the windows of the drive-through and called 911 as the vehicle left the scene. The vehicle was reported as a white sedan with license plate MN/EEC-614. A responding officer saw a white sedan with a similar license plate (EEK-614) with multiple occupants at Marion and University Avenue and conducted a traffic stop. The three suspects were removed from the vehicle and identified as Mahamed Ahmed ISMAAIIL, (08-14-2002) (Driver), Deek Ibrahim ADEN (01-01- 2003) ((Front seat passenger) and Ali SOOFE, (06-23-2004) (back right passenger). ISMAAIIL advised that there was a Glock 19 in the glove compartment.
Police recovered the firearm. ADEN was the only occupant with a permit to carry. Police spoke to McDonald’s employees again. JS said that the occupants of the vehicle got angry when they tried to order food that was not available and got angrier when they were told to leave. That is when the occupants started making threats like "I'll shoot this b**** up", "Come outside" and other statements. JS said there were multiple voices speaking together. While JS was arguing with the occupants, he heard the sound of a firearm slide being racked through his headset and believed they had a gun.
JS then heard the occupants say they knew he locked the window and called him a "Pussy ass m***********". JS stated he thinks the driver made the threats since in his experience, the tone sounded clear and it usually indicated the driver of the vehicle was talking since they are the closest to the drive-through speaker. JS believed there was a firearm in the vehicle and that something bad was going to happen to him and his coworkers. JS believed the suspects were going to try to enter the business to harm them and asked JL if the windows were locked.
MS also believed that his life and the life of the other employees were in danger. Using CCTV footage, police confirmed that the correct vehicle had been stopped and confirmed that ISMAAIIL was the driver, ADEN was the front seat passenger, and SOOFE was the back back right passenger. All three were arrested. CCTV footage also showed that ADEN got out of the vehicle in the drive-thru and walked towards the drive-thru window. After a few moments, he got back in the vehicle, the vehicle pulled forward, and then stopped at the end of the drive-thru.
