Teen, 16, two accomplices charged with firing into Lakeville party

A 16-year-old Eden Prairie teenager was charged Wednesday with firing numerous shots into a Lakeville mobile home during a party Saturday night, wounding four people. Two older teens were charged as accomplices, including a 19-year-old sought for allegedly shooting three people in Minneapolis last summer, one of whom nearly died.

Prosecutors said they will seek to try the 16-year-old as an adult on four counts of second-degree assault. He's Mohamed Yusef Hussein of Eden Prairie. The other two defendants are Mohamud Ahmed Hassan, 19, of Minneapolis, and Jibril Farah Mohamed, 18, of Burnsville.

Police are looking for two additional suspects who allegedly fled from Mohamed's car just before police converged on it with guns drawn. A surveillance camera captured that pair's images as they got out of the car and fled into a Cub Foods store in Lakeville.

Lakeville Police Chief Tom Vonhoff said Wednesday that his investigators are meeting with law enforcers from throughout the metro area to see whether any of these suspects may have been involved in yet more shootings.

On Wednesday, in a Dakota County courtroom, security was heavy, with sheriff's deputies and members of a gang strike force looking on as the two older suspects were charged and bail set.

They had allegedly been at a party when asked to leave, and a dispute broke out. Shots were fired into the mobile home from outside, authorities said. Assistant County Attorney Scott Hersey noted that the mobile home was full of people at the time, between 11 p.m. and midnight.

"It was a miracle that no one was killed," Hersey told District Judge Timothy McManus.

In that Aug. 14 shooting, Hassan was among a trio who allegedly opened fire on three victims sitting in a plaza. Two had minor injuries but a third initially was not expected to survive. He identified Hassan and two other men as his assailants, according to a complaint filed Feb. 26 in Hennepin County District Court.

Two semiautomatic pistols believed to have been used in that shooting had been stolen from a Minnetonka gun shop, court papers say.

Also charged in the Lakeville case was Jibril F. Mohamed, 18, of Burnsville, who allegedly drove the suspects away from the scene. He's charged with one count of aiding and abetting after the fact. Bail was set at $100,000, if conditions of the court are met, including staying away from victims and suspects in the case.

A half-dozen aunts, sisters and other relatives of Mohamed were in the courtroom, several weeping.

In an interview, they said Mohamed had told his mother that he was going to the party in Lakeville, which was being thrown by teens he knew, and that he had permission to use the car. Mohamed, who emigrated with his family from Somalia to Burnsville when he was 10, told the court that he had applied to college.

Hassan has a serious criminal history, including the Hennepin County charges, and he's known to lie to police. Hassan told the judge that he had dropped out of high school and is unemployed.

Bail was set at $200,000 as long as he meets court conditions, or $300,000 if he doesn't. He's also held on the Hennepin County warrant, with bail set at $1.5 million.

Hussein is being held in the Juvenile Services Center in Hastings.

Court documents say the shooting happened Saturday after the five suspects arrived at the party, paid a cover charge and then demanded a refund, saying there weren't enough girls there. The five were asked to leave. One witness told police that she saw one of the suspects go outside, pull out a gun and start shooting. Her friend was hit by a bullet.

"This was an extremely dangerous situation which could have easily resulted in the loss of life," Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said.