2 charged with shooting fireworks at Minneapolis police squads
Prosecutors have formally charged two people who are accused of shooting fireworks at Minneapolis police squads with officers inside the night of July Fourth.
The charges were filed in connection with two separate incidents, one involving a 17-year-old at Boom Island Park and another involving an 18-year-old near Bde Maka Ska.
Boom Island Park
A juvenile petition shows that a 17-year-old is facing charges of second-degree assault and fleeing police in connection to the incident.
Court documents state that officers were called to Boom Island Park at around 11:30 p.m. on the Fourth of July on reports that 40 to 50 kids were shooting fireworks at vehicles.
According to the petition, officers in one squad arrived and saw several people firing mortar fireworks and Roman candles at vehicles, and when the squad’s lights and sirens turned on, fireworks started getting shot at the officers inside.
One particular person — later identified as the 17-year-old — was spotted firing several fireworks, which ultimately went off right in front of the windshield and passenger’s window, at the squad. When that person started running, the officers pursued him and took him into custody.
The petition adds that the teen later admitted to firing the fireworks and then running.
The teen is charged with second-degree assault and fleeing police.
Bde Maka Ska
Around the same time as the incident at Boom Island, officers responded to a report of a vehicle on fire near the intersection of 36th Street West and Bde Maka Ska Parkway. A criminal complaint states roughly 300 people were in the area while fireworks exploded and hit bystanders, along with trees, houses and cars.
As law enforcement closed in on the commotion, someone fired a Roman candle at a Minneapolis Police Department squad car. The officer followed the man, identified as Zamir Abdulkadir Yassin, who was still holding the launching tube while he ran away, the complaint states.
The officer caught up with Yassin and arrested him. He’s charged with one count of second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon and remains in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.
Yassin’s first court appearance is set for Friday afternoon.
Zamir Abdulkadir Yassin (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
RELATED: MPD: 16 arrested for shooting fireworks at people on Fourth of July
During a press conference Wednesday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara commended the officers for their professionalism in apprehending the teen.
In total, O’Hara said 16 people — 11 juveniles and five adults — were arrested on the Fourth of July for discharging fireworks at people. No serious injuries were reported from those incidents.
Source: KSTP
