On the evening of August 7, 2022, a tragic incident unfolded inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment, leading to the death of 31-year-old Ahmed Elsaied. The male victim was discovered by police in his 13th-floor apartment on the 1000 block of South Marquette Avenue, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. First responders transported him to a nearby hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries approximately 45 minutes later.
His death was officially ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.
Initially, the circumstances surrounding Elsaied's death were clouded by a fabricated story. Mohamed Ahmed Said Zaher, a 21-year-old man who had been staying with Elsaied, first told police that a man in a ski mask had fled the apartment. Zaher claimed he returned to find his friend shot, and in a state of panic, he picked up the gun and threw it off the balcony. However, this account was contradicted by a witness who reported hearing a gunshot and screams, then seeing Zaher on the balcony saying, 'no, no, no,' before throwing the firearm onto the roof of the adjacent WCCO-TV building.
Upon being confronted with the witness's testimony, Zaher's story changed. He then admitted that he and Elsaied, whom he described as a friend, were handling Elsaied's handgun inside the apartment. Zaher stated that while he was trying to pull the gun's slide back, he had his finger on the trigger, and the weapon discharged, striking Elsaied in the head. After witnessing the fatal shot, Zaher confessed to throwing the gun from the balcony in a panic. Police found Zaher in the building's lobby shortly after the incident with blood on his hands and clothing.
Mohamed Zaher was arrested and subsequently charged with second-degree unintentional murder and first-degree manslaughter. In November 2023, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. In January 2024, a judge sentenced the then 22-year-old Zaher to over seven years in prison for the accidental shooting death of his friend.
