A teenager has been charged with second-degree murder in last week's fatal shooting of a Burnsville man in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Shire Basal, 16, of Minneapolis, was charged by petition with a single murder count in the shooting death of 32-year-old Liban Abdulahi on Sept. 7. The county attorney's office has asked that Basal be certified for trial as an adult.
"Last weekend, there were three shootings which resulted in deaths," Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman said Friday in a prepared statement. "It is more proof, as though any more was needed, that there are too many guns on the street. However, thanks to good police work, we have now charged suspects in two of those cases and hope to soon bring charges in the third one."
According to the criminal juvenile petition, Basal and his friends were filming a rap video in the parking lot behind the Lucky Dragon Restaurant at 1818 Riverside Av. shortly after 7 p.m. last Friday. According to video surveillance footage, Basal was in the front passenger seat of a vehicle in the parking lot when Abdulahi drove into the lot and parked near where the group was making its video.
Basal got out of the vehicle, ran to the driver's side window of Abdulahi's automobile and fired several shots, killing Abdulahi, the petition says. Basal fled on foot from the parking lot.
Police later talked to a man who told police he was driving out of the parking lot when he heard gunshots. A couple of blocks later, he recognized Basal, who asked him for a ride, according to the complaint. When Basal climbed in, the man noticed Basal had a gun and then said he just shot somebody.
Basal initially told investigators he did not shoot anyone, but later admitted to the crime and said he and Abdulahi had an altercation about a month ago, according to the petition.
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