Boy, 16, charged with murder in southern Minnesota shooting
A 16-year-old southern Minnesota boy is accused of killing a man and injuring another in a shooting earlier this month.
The boy was charged with one count each of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, according to a criminal complaint filed in Mower County last week. He is being charged as a juvenile.
Police in Austin, Minnesota, were called to the 1100 block of Fifth Avenue Northwest around 1:35 p.m. on Feb. 15.
Upon arrival, officers found a man who had been shot. Police attempted life-saving measures, but the man — identified as 27-year-old Opoka James Bot Lob Nathanael — died at the scene. Another man was injured and went to a local hospital in a private vehicle before being flown to St. Mary's.
Charges say the living victim told police he and Nathanael were inside a vehicle when they were shot. A third occupant of the vehicle had been the one that shot them and fled before police arrived, the victim told investigators.
The victim reported he did not know of any feud between the suspect and Nathanael and believed he had been the target, as he had been shot first, charges say.
Multiple witnesses allegedly reported hearing gunshots and seeing a male exit the vehicle before running away on foot. Officers were able to follow him using the trail his footprints left in the snow as well as surveillance video, according to the complaint.
An autopsy determined Nathanael had been shot from the back, indicating he had been shot by someone in the back seat, charges say.
The teen's next court date is scheduled for March 5.
