A 28-year-old Moorhead man has been charged with attempted second-degree murder after he allegedly fired a revolver at his roommate while the man sat in his vehicle outside their shared home, according to a criminal complaint filed in Clay County.
Malachi Alexander Shabaiash was charged Monday in connection with a shooting that took place Friday on the 1100 block of 3rd Street South in Moorhead. He is curently being held at the Clay County Jail.
Police were called to the residence Friday after a caller reported hearing multiple gunshots, the complaint said. The caller told police they saw Shabaiash run back inside after the gunfire.
When officers arrived, Shabaiash briefly came out the back door unarmed but fled back inside when officers tried to talk to him, according to the complaint. He then came out a door on the west side of the home carrying a rifle and ran through nearby yards. Officers found him in the backyard of a home on 4th Street and took him into custody.
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A safety sweep of the home turned up multiple firearms, the complaint says. A semi-automatic rifle was found on the deck on the west side. A revolver-style pistol was found on the floor near the east side door.
A search warrant turned up additional weapons, including a Smith and Wesson .357 revolver, a Canik 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a Model 1873 .45 caliber Colt revolver. Five rounds of live ammunition were found in the Colt revolver and four .45 caliber long Colt shell casings were found in the home.
While a detective was collecting evidence, the victim drove up to the residence. He told police he lived there with Shabaiash and that the two had an on-and-off romantic relationship.
The victim said he had spent the day at his parents’ home doing laundry while Shabaiash babysat his sister’s children. When the sister returned home, Shabaiash stayed and consumed alcohol, becoming extremely intoxicated, the complaint said. The victim later picked Shabaiash up from the sister’s home. He said Shabaiash was extremely intoxicated and agitated, yelling during the drive home, though the victim said he could not understand what Shabaiash was saying or why he was angry.
Once they arrived home, Shabaiash began to exit the vehicle but allegedly threw a Zippo lighter against the dashboard hard enough to break it into pieces, according to the complaint. The victim briefly got out to look for pieces of the lighter, then returned to the driver’s seat and was about to call his parents to discuss Shabaiash’s behavior.
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While the victim sat in the driver’s seat, Shabaiash came out of the house and began shooting at him with a revolver, the complaint said. The victim said he saw the revolver in Shabaiash’s hand aimed toward the vehicle and heard multiple gunshots. He believed the vehicle was struck three times. One round went through the door and into the center console directly beneath his leg.
The victim said he was scared and thought he might have been shot. He drove to his parents’ home immediately after the shooting, then later returned to the residence and made contact with police.
A detective found four bullet holes in the passenger side of the victim’s vehicle, matching the four .45 caliber shell casings found inside the home. One round hit the rear passenger-side door, two hit the front passenger-side door and a fourth struck the front passenger-side quarter panel. The victim had removed a projectile from the center console area and turned it over to the detective.
If convicted, Shabaiash faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
