Charges: Suspect, victim of Plymouth shooting had been feuding over Snapchat for months

Criminal charges were filed Wednesday in connection to the shooting that left a man dead on Saturday in Plymouth.

Prosecutors charged 19-year-old Raheim Tyrese Cooper of Brooklyn Park with both intentional and unintentional second-degree murder.

The charges stem from a shooting during a party in the 5800 block of Oakview Lane North on Saturday night that killed 20-year-old Abraham Archie-Boy Barbly of Brooklyn Center.

According to court documents, witnesses told police that Cooper and Barbly had been “feuding over Snapchat for the past few months,” although it’s unclear what the dispute was about, and both showed up Saturday night for a birthday party.

Officers were called to the area around 10:50 p.m. after a callers reported a shooting at a large party and one person not breathing. One of the callers also noted a “switch automatic” handgun was used.

When police arrived, they saw a large group of people trying to leave the home, then went inside and found Barbly suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A criminal complaint states that a short time after police arrived, officers outside noticed a black backpack sitting directly in front of one of the squad cars. Nobody claimed it and, inside, officers found an iPhone, bags of apparent marijuana and a Glock .45 caliber handgun that had a mounted laser sight and a switch.

Cooper was later identified as one of the people standing near the backpack but when officers reviewed squad and body camera videos, they showed a girl wearing the backpack. That girl told officers she was outside when she heard what sounded like a disagreement and a loud pop. Cooper then came up to her and asked her to hold the backpack. She added that she didn’t know what had happened and didn’t think anything of it at the time.

Others at the party told police that they saw a gun in Cooper’s hand just before gunshots were fired, the complaint states.

Cooper initially denied being involved in the shooting, saying instead that someone handed him the gun after the shooting, and he put it in the backpack and handed it to the girl because he didn’t think police would talk to her. He later admitted he and Barbly had been fighting for weeks. He also said he punched Barbly in the face at the party and they both had to be restrained by other people.

Court documents add that Cooper claimed another man then gave him a gun with a switch and he pointed it at the ground in Barbly’s direction but said he was bumped from behind, and that caused him to fire several rounds.

Police announced Cooper’s arrest on Tuesday. His first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

If convicted, he could face up to 40 years in prison.