A fuller picture has emerged about what led to a chaotic rampage last week that started when a man fired shots from an apartment balcony in Minneapolis’ Lyn-Lake neighborhood and ended with two victims shot — one fatally — in Kandiyohi County.
New charges detail Minneapolis assault that led to shooting rampage, killing one in Kandiyohi County
Ameer Matariyeh allegedly pointed a gun at the head of his ex-girlfriend and her friend, setting off a string of violence through western Minnesota that left one dead.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 31, 2024 at 4:59PM
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Ameer Musa Matariyeh, 26, with three felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of domestic assault after he allegedly held his ex-girlfriend and a male friend of hers at gunpoint inside an apartment on the 2900 block of Lyndale Avenue S. in Minneapolis.
When they escaped, Matariyeh began firing shots at them off the balcony before he fled the city.
Those allegations sit alongside the second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and fleeing police charges filed against Matariyeh in Kandiyohi County District Court for the killing of Jerry Skluzacek, 55, of New London, and the shooting of Peter Mayerchak, 25, of Lake Lillian, at separate locations near Willmar.
Court documents in both cases detail the chaos of Oct. 22, when Matariyeh arrived at the apartment on Lyndale Avenue in the morning. He paid rent for the apartment but did not live there. His ex-girlfriend was living there with the 2-year-old daughter they shared. A male friend of hers was also at the apartment at the time.
According to charges:
The woman could see that Matariyeh had a white powder under his nose and appeared to be under the influence of drugs. He became extremely angry and demanded to know if the two were dating. He pushed his ex-girlfriend to the ground, pulled out a gun and put it to the back of her head. He pointed it at the other man in the apartment.
Matariyeh pursued them as they tried to leave the apartment, and he struck the man in the head twice with the gun.
Another friend of the ex-girlfriend arrived to help. He pulled up in a car as the group left the apartment, and Matariyeh immediately pointed a gun at him before pounding on the windshield with the gun. Everyone fled as Matariyeh ran back inside the apartment.
The two men met in a parking lot before attempting to return to the apartment. That’s when they looked up and saw Matariyeh on the balcony. He immediately began firing shots at them as they took cover behind parked cars.
It was around this time that Minneapolis police officers arrived and made contact with Matariyeh’s ex-girlfriend. She believed he was still inside the apartment, but officers later learned that he had fled. They reached him on the phone. He told officers he was going to kill innocent people if he couldn’t speak with his ex-girlfriend or see his daughter, who was at daycare at the time. He later told police negotiators that “he wanted to go out by ‘suicide by cop.’”
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All the while, Matariyeh was speeding westbound.
Police officers pursued him near Cosmos in Meeker County after being alerted that Matariyeh might have stolen another vehicle at gunpoint in Carver County.
Around 2 p.m. he pulled into the driveway of Mayerchak in Lake Lillian. Mayerchak, who was in his yard putting hay over his septic mound, went and greeted Matariyeh, who shot him in the chest.
A wounded Mayerchak went back inside where he told his wife to get a gun. He was taken by air ambulance to HCMC and survived the shooting.
Matariyeh then fled again.
Officers positioned through the countryside to intercept Matariyeh spotted him driving at speeds well above 100 mph. Multiple law enforcement squads gave chase. He continued to speak with Minneapolis police negotiators and told them he wanted police to kill him. While in pursuit, the vehicle safety and security system OnStar was contacted by law enforcement to disable the vehicle Matariyeh was driving.
While officers were closing in on Matariyeh, he hit a pickup truck from behind at the Hwy. 71 and Hwy. 23 bypass southeast of Willmar. The pickup was driven by Skluzacek, who according to his online obituary was a beloved fiancé, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and son who was an avid artist, musician and outdoorsman who loved his hunting dogs.
Matariyeh attempted to steal Skluzacek’s truck before shooting him in the head. Skluzacek died at the scene. Matariyeh started running again, but officers quickly arrested him, and his discarded gun was recovered in a ditch.
Minnesota court records show nothing in Matariyeh’s background that would hint at the violence he is accused of perpetrating. His criminal history includes a minor drug paraphernalia conviction and numerous parking and driving violations.
Defense attorney William Walker told the Minnesota Star Tribune last week that “it is important that we wait and see the evidence before we rush to judgment. … A man lost his life, but that doesn’t mean my client did it.”
Matariyeh is being held in the Kandiyohi County jail in lieu of $3.5 million bail. His next court date is set for Nov. 25.
Staff writers Liz Sawyer, Paul Walsh and Jp Lawrence contributed to this story.
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