Murder charges: Seward neighborhood shooter was upset over a woman

A Plymouth man allegedly fatally shot one man and wounded another Wednesday in Minneapolis' Seward neighborhood because he was upset over a woman, charges allege.

Abdirahman M. Farah, 22, was charged Friday in Hennepin County District Court with one count each of second-degree murder with intent and second-degree assault.

Authorities have not released the identities of his alleged victims.

According to the complaint: Police responded to the 2500 block of Riverside Avenue for a shooting and found a man lying on his back in a parking lot with a gunshot wound to his chest.

A 33-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the leg had flagged police down in the area, according to emergency dispatch audio.

Police found several discharged ammunition casings in the area, the charges allege.

Both victims were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where one victim was pronounced dead. The injured victim, who was wounded in the left calf, allegedly told police Farah had shot them because he was upset that a woman he knew was with the two victims, according to the complaint.

The shooting was captured on surveillance video and allegedly shows Farah speaking with the victims and a woman.

The victim who died appeared to de-escalate the situation, but Farah allegedly retrieved a gun from a parked vehicle, fired multiple times and fled in a vehicle, the charges said.

Farah allegedly tried to flee the country, and was arrested at an airport in Connecticut where he was in custody when the charges against him were drafted. He was charged via arrest warrant.

Farah was also charged via arrest warrant Monday in Hennepin County with three counts of second-degree assault.

The complaint in that case alleged that on March 4, 2019 Farah exited a Minneapolis apartment building, approached three people sitting in a car and shot at them.

Witnesses identified Farah as the alleged shooter captured on surveillance footage in the area, the charges said. Investigators learned that Farah also lived in the building.

Police were familiar with Farah because of his involvement in "several recent shootings" related to Somali gang conflict, according to the complaint.

Farah is allegedly a member of the 1627 criminal street gang.

Police arrested him on March 15 during a traffic stop in St. Paul and allegedly found a firearm under the front passenger seat that matched the description of the weapon in the March 4 shooting, the charges said.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib