A Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man is accused of driving the SUV in an August drive-by shooting on a Minneapolis sidewalk that left a man with a gunshot wound to his arm, according to a criminal complaint.
Faisal Hassan Sheikh, 27, faces a felony count of aiding and abetting a drive-by shooting toward a person. The complaint was filed Oct. 19 in Hennepin County District Court, and bail was set at $200,000.
According to the complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a shooting in the 2900 block of Hennepin Avenue South on Aug. 15 and found a man with a gunshot wound to his right forearm. He told officers he had been at a club and got into an argument with a group of two or three men. As he left the club, the same group drove up to him in a white or silver sedan and kept arguing.
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The victim reported that one of the men threatened to shoot him. The victim was then shot at and later transported to the hospital by EMS.
Officers found a shooting scene nearby with bullet damage to a building where an illegal after party was known to be held. Investigators reviewed surveillance video and saw a group return at about 5:20 a.m. in a white Acura SUV, parking across the street from the address. The video showed the driver and front seat passenger, with the driver wearing a distinctive white t-shirt seen earlier on camera.
The complaint states the suspect vehicle pulled away from the curb, driving the wrong way westbound on Lake Street. The vehicle stopped next to the victim on the sidewalk, and people on the sidewalk began running as shots appeared to be fired. The vehicle then continued driving the wrong way on Lake Street past Hennepin Avenue.
Investigators identified the vehicle as a white Acura with Minnesota plates that had made several trips to and from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the previous six months. Sioux Falls police identified the driver as Sheikh, and cellphone records placed him in the area of the shooting at about 4:05 a.m. and 5:33 a.m. that day, the complaint says.
Police found the Acura at a home in Hopkins on Oct. 6, and Sheikh was taken into custody Oct. 16. In an interview after being read his rights, he identified himself in still images from the shooting and said he was the driver of the Acura, according to the complaint.
The drive-by shooting count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine or both, according to the complaint.
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Jurisdictional Context
Hennepin County is Minnesota’s most populous jurisdiction. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office handles felony prosecutions across Minneapolis and 44 other cities; the Fourth Judicial District presides over felony arraignments and trials at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
