A 21-year-old Somali Outlaws gang member already at the center of a federal straw-buyer probe has been charged in connection with a June incident in which he accidentally shot a friend outside a Burnsville gas station.
On Thursday, the Dakota County attorney's office charged Fausi Ibrahim Mohamed, of Burnsville, with a felony dangerous-weapon violation involving the reckless discharge of a firearm. Mohamed is ordered to appear in court on Sept. 21.
According to charges:
Burnsville police responded to a shooting June 27 outside a SuperAmerica. The victim said he drove a group of friends, including Mohamed, to play basketball that night, smoked marijuana and drove to the gas station.
As he sat in the back seat behind the victim, Mohamed was showing off a handgun to another passenger when the weapon discharged.
Mohamed fled the scene after the gun went off, but later admitted to police that he had accidentally fired the weapon. He claimed that he hadn't brought the gun into the vehicle and that he hadn't known that a round had been chambered. Mohamed also told officers that he wasn't familiar with the type of gun and that he had never fired it.
According to the complaint, all witnesses were reluctant to speak. Despite Mohamed's confession, the victim and another person present during the shooting did not pick him out of a lineup.
Relying on video surveillance, an investigation revealed that Mohamed was with the gun's purchaser when it was acquired.
