Murder charges: Suspect targeted, executed Iowa man in St. Paul parking lot

An Iowa man visiting St. Paul was “targeted and executed” following a night out with friends earlier this week, according to murder charges filed against his alleged killer.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged 22-year-old Kueth Chuol Ngut with two counts of second-degree murder. His appeared in court Friday and is scheduled to reappear on Oct. 24. Judge Kelly Olmstead set bail at $3 million.

On Friday the St. Paul Police Department identified the victim as Lul Dak Chak, 32, of Ames, Iowa, who bowled with friends sometime before being gunned down. According to charging documents, Ngut and another suspect planned to kill Chak.

Just past midnight on Sept. 17, a caller reported hearing gunshots and someone lying on the ground the parking lot of an apartment building at 1222 University Avenue West. Police found Chak there with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso, neck and face. He was unconscious and not breathing. A cell phone, broken necklace and 19 bullet casings were nearby.

Medics pronounced him dead at the scene, and an autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner confirmed that Chak died from nine gunshot wounds.

Chak’s cousin witnessed the shooting, telling police that they were smoking outside the apartment complex after returning from a birthday party. Chak told her he was buying narcotics. Moments later, a man exited a Subaru parked in the lot and began shooting at them. The cousin dropped to the ground and said that Chak leaped in front to protect her.

A friend who also witnessed the shooting said the three were outside for a smoke when a person wearing all black got out of the front passenger seat of a vehicle and shot at them. They also claimed that the car was in the lot with its headlights off before shots rang.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage which showed the Subaru driving in the area 20 minutes before the shooting, moving to different spots in the parking lot. When Chak walked outside, two peopled got out of the car and shot at him. He fell to the ground.

“The driver walked to [Chak’s] body on the ground, got within 1-2 feet of [him], and fired more rounds into [his] body,” the charging documents read. “From the video it’s apparent that [Chak] was targeted and executed.”

Authorities arrested Ngut at his girlfriend’s Minneapolis apartment on Wednesday, but he refused to talk to police. They found a loaded handgun with bullet casings which appeared to match those found at the murder scene. Additional footage showed Ngut arrive at his girlfriend’s apartment hours after the shooting with the Subaru on a tow truck. He was recorded throwing away a white cloth, which investigators recovered and said “appeared to have blood on it and packages for bandages.”

Chak’s death marks the 19th homicide in St. Paul so far this year. There were 24 by this time last year, according to a Star Tribune database.