Blaine teen charged in Highway 100 shooting that hurt driver

Blaine teen charged in Highway 100 shooting that hurt driver By KSTP (Credit: Hennepin County Jail Roster) A Blaine teenager with gang affiliation is facing charges after a shooting on Highway 100 in St. Louis Park that left a driver injured.According to the criminal complaint filed Wednesday, Abdisalan Muhumed Ali, 19, is charged with one count each of drive-by shooting toward an occupied car and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Court records say Ali is associated with the “1300” gang.Investigators said officers responded to southbound Highway 100 near the Excelsior Boulevard exit around 6 p.m. on Sept. 30 after the driver of a white Honda Accord reported they were shot in the left ankle.Police said officers found about six bullet strikes on the Honda and located discharged cartridge casings from two calibers, .45 and 9 mm, in the southbound lanes, according to the complaint.The complaint says the front passenger told police he recognized the suspect car from a Columbia Heights restaurant parking lot because it had heavily tinted windows and a license plate starting with Z. The driver also told police he believed a black Hyundai Sonata with dark tint and dark wheels followed them after they left the restaurant.According to the complaint, surveillance video showed the victims’ car, the suspect car, and other associated cars in the restaurant parking lot. Investigators said the Hyundai was registered to Ali.The complaint says video showed the suspect car trailing the Honda from the restaurant to the shooting scene. Investigators said the Hyundai then sped up next to the Honda on Highway 100 at a location consistent with where officers found the cartridge casings.Police later searched Ali’s home and the suspect car, according to the complaint. Investigators also said phone data placed Ali near the restaurant and near the shooting at the relevant times.The complaint says analysis from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) linked the .45 caliber casings to several other shootings, including a Sept. 5 Anoka County shooting involving three gunshot victims and a July 19 Minneapolis shooting involving a vehicle and two homes. It also says those .45 caliber casings matched a Feb. 13 Burnsville shooting in which the driver in this case was also the target.Court records say the 9 mm casings matched a Glock that police had found with a known associate of Ali on June 10. The complaint also says Ali’s phone records showed 26 contacts with that associate between Sept. 5 and Oct. 4.Ali is due for a first appearance on Thursday afternoon.