Minnesota Worker Sentenced After Parking Lot Shooting Outside Amazon Fulfillment Center. (Photo by KSTP-TV)
A Minnesota man will spend more than 10 years in prison for fatally shooting a coworker outside an Amazon fulfillment center after an argument over a missing gun attachment turned deadly.
Mohamed A. Hared, 26, of Faribault, was sentenced to 128 months in prison in Dakota County District Court for the June 29, 2024, killing of 22-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim Cariif. Hared pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony, according to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.
The shooting happened in the parking lot of an Amazon fulfillment center in Lakeville, Minnesota, where Hared, Cariif, and another coworker had arrived together for an overnight shift.
What began as a work break spiraled into a fatal confrontation. According to the criminal complaint, Hared discovered that a flashlight attachment was missing from his handgun, which had been left in the vehicle the men carpooled to work. He accused Cariif and the other coworker of taking it. Both denied it.
Hours later, the men returned to the vehicle during another break to continue looking for the missing item. At one point, a coworker suggested involving security. Hared allegedly rejected the idea and continued to press the accusation.
“No. You guys took my flashlight. I want my flashlight back. No one’s going home today,” Hared said, according to the complaint.
Investigators said surveillance video showed the men separated before another confrontation broke out. During that second encounter, Hared pulled out a handgun, according to court records.
A witness told police that Cariif tried to grab the weapon after Hared drew it. The first shot hit a nearby vehicle, the complaint states. After that gunshot, Cariif and the witness reportedly yelled, “Don’t shoot.”
Cariif was shot and died at the scene. An autopsy later found that the bullet struck his heart, lung and aorta.
Prosecutors said video evidence showed Hared had chances to leave the confrontation but continued engaging before the fatal shot was fired.
Hared was initially charged with second-degree intentional murder. In January, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony.
Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena described the killing as a senseless act of workplace violence.
“It’s so senseless the victim was shot to death over such a trivial matter,” Keena said when charges were announced in July 2024. “Deadly gun violence has no place in our communities, neighborhoods or at our places of work.”
Judge Richelle Wahi handed down the 128-month sentence. Hared received credit for 700 days already served and remains in custody while awaiting transfer to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
The case closes a criminal chapter that began with an argument over a missing firearm accessory and ended with a young man dead in a workplace parking lot. For Cariif’s family, coworkers and community, the sentence marks accountability, but it does not undo the loss of a 22-year-old whose overnight shift became the scene of a fatal shooting.
