79-year-old hit by stray bullet in her Minneapolis home; 2 facing charges
2 charged after elderly woman shot in Minneapolis
A 79-year-old woman was shot inside her Minneapolis home over the weekend when a stray bullet went through her window and struck her in the stomach. Two people are now facing charges connected to the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Two people are now facing charges after a 79-year-old woman was struck by a stray bullet that went through the window of her Minneapolis home.
Woman struck by stray bullet
The backstory:
Minneapolis police were called shortly after midnight on Sunday, August 17 to a home on 31st Street East, just east of Powderhorn Park, for the report of a woman struck by gunfire.
At the scene, officers found a 79-year-old woman who had been shot in the stomach. Police say the woman was simply sitting in her living room when she heard a loud bang and felt pain in her stomach. Dispatch also received separate calls for reports of shots fired in the area.
NOTE: The criminal complaint listed the victim's age as 80, but police say she is 79.
Local perspective:
Two witnesses told police they were in their backyard when they heard two vehicles driving fast along 31st Street near 17th Avenue South. The witnesses heard a woman scream in "an angry tone" and then a single gunshot.
They looked over their fence and saw an SUV parked on 17th Street South but couldn't see the other vehicle because it was too dark. Another witness said they saw a gray SUV and a black SUV chasing each other in the area. The witness said the driver of the black SUV had a firearm.
Caught on video:
Police were also able to pull surveillance video from a nearby church along 17th Avenue South near 32nd Street. The church in question appears to be the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The video shows the gray SUV heading south on 17th Street, veering off, so the car is sideways in the street, and then someone firing a shot from the passenger window, which was facing north – the direction the victim's home is in.
The gray SUV then hits a yield sign before racing westbound down 32nd Street. The gunman was presumably targeting the black SUV, which is seen on video seconds later, slowly going south on 17th Avenue.
Big picture view:
The shooting was one of four in the overnight hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
2 people facing charges
What we know:
Jamaul Graham, 52, and Kitanna Fawn Crowell, 26, are both charged with first-degree assault and possession of a dangerous weapon connected to the shooting. Graham also faces a firearm possession charge. Authorities say Graham has a 1998 controlled substance conviction on his record and wasn't supposed to have a gun.
Dig deeper:
At the roundabout between 32nd and 17th, officers found pieces of a fog light next to the damaged yield sign.
Shortly after the shooting, police say license plate readers in the area captured a plate belonging to a GMC Yukon about ten blocks away from the shooting scene. That Yukon had been stopped in June and, at the time, was being driven by Graham. Police also learned that the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office was investigating Graham for gun and drug charges.
Tracking his cell phone, police learned Graham was in the area of Maplewood Mall. Shortly after, police spotted the Yukon in St. Paul, at the Midway Motel. Police stopped the vehicle, and found Graham driving and Crowell in the passenger seat. The Yukon had damage to its fog light, which matched the piece found on 32nd and 17th. Police also found a .45 caliber Kahr pistol in the Yukon. Police say testing showed a match for the bullet that struck the 79-year-old victim.
What they're saying:
Speaking with police, Crowell admitted to firing the shot near 32nd and 17th. She said she did it because they were being chased by another vehicle. She claimed she wasn't trying to hurt anyone, she was just trying to scare the other driver.
Crowell also said her boyfriend, Graham, knew she was going to shoot, which is why he swung the vehicle around.
However, Crowell later changed her story, and said that it was actually Graham who fired the shot, and she only rolled the window down for him. Police say Crowell later changed her story again, and said she was the shooter. That time around, she claimed she did it because she thought the police would let her go if she didn't shoot the gun.
Graham wouldn't tell police who shot the gun, but denied that he owned it. He claimed someone else had left it in his vehicle days before the shooting, and he was holding it in case they wanted it back. He did admit, however, that the police would find his fingerprints and DNA on the gun.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said: "All acts of violence in our community are troubling, but especially random acts when someone is sitting in the comfort of their home. And particularly when they affect the elderly or the youth in our community are that much more egregious and offensive to everyone."