Man charged with murder in connection to fatal shooting at Eagan gas station

A man is charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting Saturday night at an Eagan gas station, according to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.

Documents filed in Dakota County Circuit Court show Sakaria Osman Ahmed, 31, of Burnsville, faces one count of second-degree intentional murder in the death of 33-year-old Faisal Abukar.

A criminal complaint states that Eagan police officers responded to a report of a shooting that had possibly left the victim dead just before 7 p.m. Saturday evening at the Marathon gas station on Silver Bell Road. First responders found Abukar shot in the head; he was taken to the hospital but was later pronounced dead.

Dispatch also alerted officers to a crash about 100 yards from the gas station, the complaint states. Witnesses had seen a gunman wearing a hoodie and dark pants running away from the crash and toward a nearby outlet mall. That person, identified as Ahmed, was taken into custody.

A witness told police that he and Abukar drove to the gas station to meet up with some people. They parked in an area away from the gas pumps, and a sedan pulled up next to them. The passenger of the other car got out of the sedan and into the back seat of the witness’ car.

The witness said the person who got in the back seat started getting angry about how far back the front seats were positioned. Eventually, all three people got out of the car and continued arguing. The man who had been in the sedan started punching the witness in the face and threw him to the ground. At one point, the driver of the sedan got out and joined the altercation between the two cars and shot Abukar.

The witness ran away, and when he looked back, the gunman was pointing his firearm at him. He continued running and saw the gunman and the passenger get back in the sedan and drive away from the shooting scene. They drove to another area of the same parking lot, stayed there for a while and then crashed shortly after leaving the lot.

A review of security camera footage corroborated the witness’ statements to police, but the shooting itself was not visible.

Ahmed was booked into the Dakota County Jail on Sunday, and a judge set his bail at $1.5 million. He had his first court appearance Tuesday, and his next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16.