22-year-old sentenced to 7 years in prison for downtown Minneapolis shooting

1 dead, 1 arrested after downtown Minneapolis apartment shooting

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for accidentally shooting and killing his friend in August 2022.

Mohamed Zaher, 22, pleaded guilty in November to first-degree manslaughter for the death of 31-year-old Ahmed Elsaied.

The shooting happened on Aug. 7, 2022, at the Artistry on 10th apartment building located on the 1000 block of South Marquette Avenue.

Officers arrived at WCCO-TV at about 8 p.m. on a report that the handgun used in the shooting had been tossed down from the apartment's balcony, landing on the station's rooftop WCCO

According to a criminal complaint, Zaher told police that he and Elsaied were in the apartment together when he was handling Elsaied's gun. While trying to pull the slide back, Zaher had his finger on the trigger and the gun went off.

After seeing Elsaied had been shot, Zaher went to the balcony and threw the gun onto the rooftop of the WCCO-TV building next door.

Note: The video above originally aired on Aug. 7, 2022.

Manslaughter
Downtown Minneapolis

Riley Moser

Riley Moser is a digital line producer at wcco.com. At WCCO, she often covers breaking news and feature stories. In 2022, Riley received an honorable mention in sports writing from the Iowa College Media Association.