Murder charges: Perceived slight at bar led to shooting in downtown Minneapolis parking ramp

A perceived slight at a downtown Minneapolis bar led to the shooting death of a 20-year-old man in a parking ramp, according to murder charges filed Tuesday against the suspect.

Troy Lierre Fowler, 30, of Brooklyn Park faces one count of second-degree murder without premeditation, and one count of second-degree murder while also committing a felony in the killing of 20-year-old Mohamed Hassan, which is the 50th homicide so far this year in the city.

Fowler remains in custody at the Hennepin County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to a criminal complaint: Police responded at 3:20 a.m. to a downtown parking garage on Sixth Street South, east of Hennepin Avenue, on a report of a gun being fired, the criminal complaint said. One officer located Hassan lying on the ground near the entrance of the parking ramp with a gunshot wound in his back.

Fowler fled the scene on foot after shooting once. A different Minneapolis police officer pursued him and detained him near a pillar in the parking garage. Fowler had a handgun, which he "shoved to the side," according to the complaint.

A nearby business captured video footage of the incident. The video shows two males walking east from Hennepin Avenue around 3 a.m. toward the parking ramp. As Fowler and the second man walk into the garage, the second man pulls out a handgun from his waistband and points it at Hassan, who is standing next to a pillar in the garage, the complaint said. Hassan, who is carrying a bag, begins to raise the flap, but then releases it and raises his hands "as though he is surrendering or giving up," the complaint reads. A handgun was found in the bag afterward, but Hassan had never pulled it out.

Fowler pulls out a gun from his own waistband as he walks by Hassan and Hassan's brother, who was also in the garage, and aims it at Hassan from behind. Fowler fired his gun at Hassan once before running, jumping the retaining fence and running up the exit ramp toward Sixth Street South.

In an interview with authorities, Fowler admitted to shooting Hassan, saying Hassan "bumped into him" at the Union Rooftop bar on Hennepin Avenue earlier that night.

Hassan's brother told a different version of what took place at the bar. The brother said Fowler and the second man were "muggin" Hassan and the rest of their group. He said the two groups never made contact at Union.

Fowler's booking photo shows that his left eye is swollen shut, although it's unclear how or when the injury occurred. Hennepin County Sheriff's spokesman Andy Skoogman said the injury did not occur at the jail. Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said he had no information regarding the injury.

Hassan was a security guard and the youngest of four children, according to a Go Fund Me for the Hassan family started by activist and civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong. Hassan was the cousin of Sumaya Aden, whose brother, Isak Aden, 23, was a University of Minnesota student killed by Eagan police in July 2019.

"This family is asking for our community's support to help with the cost of burying their loved one under tragic, unexpected circumstances," Armstrong wrote. "It is hard to imagine what this family is experiencing. They need our help to get through this terrible tragedy."

The Aden family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit last year seeking $20 million in damages.

Armstrong said in the online fundraiser that it was a random attack adding trauma to an already grieving family. "This senseless act of violence took away a beautiful, beloved brother and son," she wrote. "Mohamed's mom is a single mother whose world has been shattered by the unexpected loss of her son."

Star Tribune staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.

Maya Miller • 612-673-7086