Mustafa Ali, a 25-year-old man from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was killed in a shootout on the evening of October 11, 2019. The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. in the city’s Hawthorne neighborhood, at the intersection of 23rd and Aldrich Avenues North. According to witness interviews and surveillance footage, an 18-year-old named Mahad Jama Ali was in the back seat of a car to buy drugs from a dealer.
Mustafa Ali walked up to the car's back door, and a shootout erupted between the two men.
Mustafa Ali was shot three times in the chest. After the shooting, he was placed in a Chevrolet Impala. Police officers were flagged down about five blocks away by the people in the car. Officers performed first aid, but Mustafa Ali had no pulse and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation revealed the shooting was part of an ongoing and violent feud between two rival gangs. Authorities identified Mustafa Ali as a high-ranking member of the Somali Outlaws gang, while Mahad Ali was a member of the rival 1627 Boys. The gangs were known to law enforcement for "retaliatory and escalating violence that often manifests itself in drive-by shootings, attempted murder and murder." The conflict was also personal; Mahad Ali’s mother told police that her son and Mustafa Ali had a “beef” for months. She had even visited Mustafa Ali’s mother in an attempt to reconcile the two young men.
Mahad Ali was also injured in the exchange of gunfire. Shortly after the incident, he arrived at Hennepin Healthcare with a gunshot wound that required emergency surgery. He was subsequently identified as the other person involved in the shootout and arrested. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Mahad Jama Ali with second-degree murder. In April 2020, he pleaded guilty to the charge. A month later, in May 2020, a judge sentenced him to over 16 years, or 198 months, in prison at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility, with credit for 227 days served.
