Anoka man charged in 2020 Christmas Eve shooting death
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An Anoka man was charged Monday for a Minneapolis shooting death that took place on Christmas Eve in 2020.
Prosecutors charged 29-year-old Tenzin Yamgha with second-degree murder in connection to the fatal shooting.
According to the charges, Minneapolis police officers reported to a shooting at the light rail station at Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue. Upon arrival, officers found a man shot in the upstairs escalator lobby area. The victim died from his wounds.
Video surveillance captured the shooting, court documents allege. Before the shooting, Yamgha entered the lobby area with a woman. Surveillance footage showed the victim confronting Yamgha and as the confrontation continued, Yamgha appeared to be holding a gun in his pocket.
Yamgha then told the victim, "I will pull the trigger" and told the victim to step away, charges say. But the victim took Yamgha’s hat off his head, and Yamgha pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun out of his jacket pocket and shot the victim at least twice.
A witness at the scene told police that the shooting was over a "small amount of money," according to court documents.
Police were able to match a booking photo of Yamgha with the appearance of the suspect in the surveillance footage, court documents allege.
Police were also able to track down the woman who was with Yamgha during the shooting. The woman confirmed she had been dating Yamgha at the time of the shooting, and identified herself as the woman in the surveillance video, charges say. She stated that she recalled the confrontation and Yamgha shooting the victim.
The witness from the scene confirmed the identity of the shooter to be Yamgha, but stated he didn’t witness the shooting but says he knew it was the Yamgha who did it and saw him with a gun earlier, charges allege.
An autopsy report confirmed that the cause of death for the victim was multiple gunshot wounds, court documents say.
Yamgha is currently in custody on another matter, police say.