North Mankato deadly shooting: Suspects were looking to 'rob a plug', charges say
NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (FOX 9) - Two young men are now facing attempted robbery charges in connection to a deadly shooting in North Mankato that claimed the life of a 17-year-old boy last month.
Two men charged in attempted robbery case
What we know:
Ahmed Mohamud, 23, and Ryan Wolner, 18, were charged Monday in connection to the deadly shooting in North Mankato on May 23 that claimed the life of 17-year-old Tyson Michael Goodsell.
Local perspective:
Neither Mohamud nor Wolner are currently charged with murder. Mohamud faces attempted aggravated robbery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit felony aggravated robbery.
Wolner is accused of aiding and abetting attempted aggravated robbery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit felony aggravated robbery, and three counts of aiding an offender.
Timeline:
On the night of May 23, police responded to the area of Pleasant View Drive and Willow Lane for a report of gunshot. As officers responded, they also received reports of a vehicle that had crashed into a town home in that area.
Once on scene, they found the shooting victim, later identified as Goodsell, inside a vehicle. He was rushed to the Mayo Clinic hospital in Mankato where he was ultimately pronounced dead.
Witness said perps were looking to rob a ‘plug’
The backstory:
According to the charges, a witness told police that Wolner reached out to them looking for "plugs" to rob. "Plugs" is a slang term for drug dealers.
Wolner reached out to the witness asking them to set them up with Goodsell for a robbery. The witness texted Goodsell and set up a buy of $2,000 worth of cannabis products.
However, later that night, the witness said Wolner contacted him out of breath saying Goodsell had been shot and was dead. Wolner claimed he hadn't been there when the shooting happened – only another person and Mohamud were at the shooting. But Wolner had told the witness he needed to "smash" his phone, the charges state.
Dig deeper:
Another witness recounted driving with Wolner and Mohamud to a location in Mankato where Wolner handed Mohamud a rifle. That witness then drove Mohamud to the meet-up spot with Goodsell in a separate vehicle.
A third witness told police Wolner came to their home shortly before the meet-up to pick up the rifle, saying he needed it to rob Goodsell.
Finally, police have been able to track the locations of Wolner and two of the witnesses because they were on GPS monitoring. The GPS monitoring was part of the conditions of another aggravated robbery and kidnapping case that Wolner was charged with back in February.
In that case, Wolner was accused of holding a man at gunpoint outside a Mankato business, forcing him at gunpoint to drive to an apartment complex, before making off with his wallet containing hundreds of dollars worth of cash.
What's next:
In a statement announcing the charges, North Mankato police said they had identified additional "persons of interest" in the case. Officers say additional arrests and charges are possible as the case continues.
They continue to ask anyone with information on the homicide to call the North Mankato Police Department at 507-625-7883 and request to speak with Lieutenant Brian Gangelhoff or Investigator David VonBerge.
The Source: This story uses information from a Nicollet County criminal complaint.