MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors say a 21-year-old man fatally shot a 31-year-old man in a downtown Minneapolis apartment building and then threw the gun from a balcony onto the roof of the nearby WCCO building.
Mohamed Ahmed Said Zaher, of Minneapolis, was charged with second-degree unintentional murder and first-degree manslaughter in the shooting of Ahmed Elsaied.
Police were called to the apartment building at South 10th Street and Marquette Avenue around 7:45 p.m.
They found Zaher in the apartment's lobby with "blood spatter on his clothing and blood on his hands" according to the criminal complaint.
Police say Zaher appeared "upset" and told the officers that his friend was shot on the 13th floor.
Zahir said that a man with a black mask was running from his friend's apartment.
Zahir said he then discovered his friend had been shot.
Officers went up to Elsaied's apartment and saw the man "unresponsive" on the floor and suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Elsaied was taken to a hospital where he died.
During their investigation, officers talked to a witness who said they heard a gunshot and screams.
The witness then said they saw Zaher step out onto the balcony and say "no, no, no and then threw a firearm onto the roof of the nearby WCCO building."
When Zahir was confronted with other witness statements contradicting his timeline, police say he changed his story, according to the complaint.
Authorities say Zahir told police that he and Elsaied were in the apartment together and Zahir was handling Elsaied's handgun.
Zahir said when he was trying to pull the gun's slide back, he had his finger on the trigger and the gun went off. After seeing Elsaied shot in the head Zehar said he went to the balcony and threw the gun onto a nearby building.
He is currently being held in the Hennepin County Jail.
