St. Paul homicide: 18-year-old tried to ‘scare’ friend with gun, shot him by accident instead

An 18-year-old says he didn’t know a gun was cocked and loaded when he pulled the trigger Monday in St. Paul, killing his friend, court documents show.

Adnan Abdullahi Abdi of St. Paul is charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the homicide case.

St. Paul police say the death of 19-year-old Omar Noor Nunow at an apartment building near the intersection of Marshall and Prior avenues was originally reported as a suicide, but investigators became suspicious when Abdi’s story wasn’t adding up.

According to a criminal complaint, Abdi first called around 2 p.m., saying Nunow had shot himself. Abdi claimed he had fallen asleep while his friend was playing with a gun and that he woke to the sound of a gunshot and Nunow falling to the floor.

Later, when officers pressed Abdi on the matter, he admitted that Nunow left the room for a moment to go to the bathroom and that he had planned to “scare” him when he came back. He grabbed the gun, not knowing there was a round in the chamber, pointed it at Nunow and said, “Freeze,” pulling the trigger and firing at Nunow’s head.

Abdi’s first court appearance is set for Wednesday morning. He remains in custody at the Ramsey County Jail on $1 million bail.