Charges: Perishea Young shot woman "at close range" on Minneapolis's Nicollet Mall
MINNEAPOLIS – A West St. Paul woman faces decades in prison for allegedly shooting a woman in the chest last week in downtown Minneapolis.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says 23-year-old Perishea Laray Young is charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault in the shooting that happened early last Wednesday evening on South 9th Street and Nicollet Mall, near the Target store.
The criminal complaint states that surveillance footage from several angles shows Young and the victim arguing. A woman tries to intervene at one point, before Young is seen removing a gun from her purse, "taking several steps toward the Victim," and then shooting the unarmed woman "at close range."
Video then shows Young running from the scene and dropping her gun along the way, which is picked up by another woman. Young gets into a car, and the other woman "can be seen tossing it into the car" before the vehicle speeds away from the area.
Officers at the scene found the wounded victim "gasping for air," with a gunshot wound in her lower chest. Police say she is still in critical condition days after the shooting, and has undergone several surgeries.
Four-and-a-half hours after the shooting, Young surrendered at a police station, and gave officers a handgun. She told investigators that "she feared for her life" and was acting in self-defense, claiming the victim reached into her own purse and had something in her hand. Police allegedly showed her surveillance video that disputes her account. Young then allegedly told investigators that she "just wanted Victim to 'back down,'" and that she is "quick to fight."
If convicted, Young could face up to 40 years in prison.
