An online feud spiraled into a real-world ambush that left a bystander with a gunshot wound to the chest near a busy Saint Paul intersection earlier this month.
Sonram Poowang, 20, and Soe Moe Aung, 20, each face charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and second-degree riot in Ramsey County.
Criminal complaints outline a scheme in which a girl was allegedly used to lure two victims to a meeting spot before the suspects chased them in a black Mercedes sedan and opened fire.
The shooting happened around 8:50 p.m. on March 13 near the intersection of Old Hudson Road and White Bear Avenue. A man pumping gas at a nearby Holiday station told police he heard what he thought were fireworks and saw two vehicles at the intersection that appeared to be exchanging gunfire.
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Officers arriving at the gas station found a man lying on his back with a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest. The victim was covered in blood from his torso to his shoes. He told officers he had been walking to a bus stop when a black SUV drove past him and he was shot. Medics took him to the hospital.
Surveillance video from the Holiday showed the victim walking toward White Bear Avenue on Old Hudson Road. Two vehicles were stopped at the intersection, and multiple people got out of a sedan. One raised an arm and pointed it at the SUV, and muzzle flashes appeared on camera. The victim fell to the ground. Officers found four spent 9mm casings in the intersection.
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Around the same time, dispatch received a frantic call from a man saying he and a passenger were being chased and shot at while driving a black Toyota RAV4. Officers met the two victims at the Woodbury Police Department. The RAV4 had a bullet hole in the front quarter panel.
One of the victims, a juvenile, told police the confrontation grew out of an online gaming dispute. A friend in New York had been feuding with a group in Minnesota over a video game. After the online trash-talking escalated, a girl appeared on a video call and told one of the victims he was attractive. She urged both of them to meet her and sent the address of the Conway Rec Center.
When they arrived, the victims spotted a suspicious black Mercedes sedan idling in the parking lot with its lights on. They spoke briefly to the girl from inside their vehicle but grew uneasy and tried to leave. The Mercedes pulled out of the lot and gave chase through the neighborhood before both vehicles stopped at a red light at Old Hudson Road and White Bear Avenue. Two people from the sedan got out and opened fire, according to the complaint.
The Mercedes broke off the pursuit when the RAV4 reached the interstate and exited in Woodbury. The victims told investigators they believed the girl was used to lure them to the rec center.
Investigators linked the Instagram account used to arrange the meetup to Poowang. He had previously been connected to a 2025 drive-by shooting in Saint Paul, the complaint states.
Both Poowang and Aung face up to 20 years in prison on the first-degree assault charges.
