Teens Charged in Shooting Outside Burnsville High School Graduation

Jun 10

Two teenagers are facing felony charges after a shooting outside a Burnsville high school last Friday night.

According to charges filed Monday, 18-year-old Abdulahi Jama Ali and 18-year-old Abdikani Mukhtar Abdiwahab were arrested after police say shots were fired from a car occupied by the pair during a disturbance on school grounds.

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Officers working crowd control at the school on June 6 reported ongoing fights between two groups who were also flashing gang signs. Around 8:30 p.m., police heard gunfire on the west side of the school and responded to the area.

Bystanders directed officers to a Camry occupied by Ali and Abdiwahab. Both were detained without incident. As officers were taking them into custody, a bystander shouted, “Ksoe, you missed. You dumb a**. You missed.” Police say “Ksoe” is a known nickname for Ali.

Inside the vehicle, officers found a handgun with an extended magazine under the front passenger seat and a shell casing on the driver’s side floor. Two more casings were found nearby, along with a parked vehicle that had a bullet fragment lodged in its front headlight.

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Witnesses who had been behind the Camry told police they saw a person in a leopard print jacket approach the car and strike it with a fist. One said they then saw a gun barrel emerge from the front passenger window before hearing multiple shots. The person in the jacket was believed to be the same bystander who called out to “Ksoe” during the arrests.

Abdiwahab denied knowing about any firearm and said he only knew his passenger as “Ksoe.” DNA samples were taken from both teens and from the recovered handgun, and were submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing.

Ali is charged with second-degree assault and two counts of drive-by shooting—one toward a person and one toward an unoccupied vehicle. Abdiwahab is charged with aiding and abetting those same offenses, along with two counts of aiding an offender for allegedly concealing evidence and helping the shooter avoid arrest.

Ali remains in custody as of Tuesday morning, while Abdiwahab does not appear on the Dakota County jail roster. Both teens face maximum sentences of up to 10 years in prison.

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