A 29-year-old man has been charged with felony firearm possession in connection with a shooting in downtown Minneapolis last year that left one victim dead.
Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, of Shakopee, was charged Friday in Hennepin County District Court with one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence.
Prosecutors noted in the complaint that they’re not charging Mohamed with murder based on the evidence and the victim’s alleged conduct leading up to the shooting.
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It happened Friday, April 18, 2025, near the intersection of South 9th Street and 3rd Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis. Officers found the victim in a blue Mazda sedan with front-end damage, airbags deployed and a gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim and a witness had driven downtown to meet with Mohamed, whom the witness knew as “Musa.” The witness told investigators he planned to mediate between the two men after they had gotten into an altercation the previous night and the victim reportedly wanted to fight Mohamed.
Surveillance footage showed the victim’s Mazda and Mohamed’s Toyota Camry parked near 6th Street across from Lyons Pub. The witness got out of the Mazda, into Mohamed’s vehicle and Mohamed drove off. The victim then moved into the driver’s seat and chased Mohamed’s car eastbound on 6th Street.
The footage shows the two men through downtown, with the victim repeatedly swerving into Mohamed’s lane on Marquette Avenue. At one point, the victim reached out of his open window and opened the passenger door of Mohamed’s car, with the barrel and slide of a handgun seen pointed at Mohamed and the witness by the victim, the court documents say.
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The witness told investigators that throughout the pursuit, the victim had his gun “on Mohamed” and the two were exchanging words. The witness said Mohamed then fired four shots at the victim’s vehicle while the witness sat in the passenger seat.
The victim’s Mazda accelerated westbound on 9th Street South and crashed into a parked vehicle. Mohamed got onto Interstate 35W and then fled southbound. Officers found a .45 caliber handgun between the victim’s legs that appeared to be partly 3D-printed, the documents say, though forensic testing determined it was inoperable.
Five 9mm shell casings were recovered at the scene, four of which were fired from the same firearm.
Mohamed is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a prior conviction for first-degree drug possession in Dakota County that stemmed from a shooting and drug sale.
Investigators believe Mohamed may have fled the country, noting he booked a flight to Istanbul that he never checked in for and that he now may be in Somalia. A nationwide arrest warrant was issued Friday and remains active. Court records indicate Mohamed had not been taken into custody as of publication.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison with a five-year mandatory minimum.
