Charges: Man Shot By Police At Airport After Hitting Officers With Car
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 36-year-old Maple Plain man is accused of hitting police officers with a vehicle before being shot by authorities at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last weekend, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.
Mohamud Mohammed Maye was charged with two counts of first-degree assault against a peace officer in connection with the incident, which happened Saturday night. According to the charges, authorities were called to Terminal 1 at the MSP Airport at about 10:18 p.m. to investigate an officer-involved shooting.
When authorities arrived, they learned that the incident happened at about 9:33 p.m. near the rental car area of the parking ramp. Airport Police officers were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area when another vehicle drove at and hit several officers.
The complaint states that a yellow Chevrolet accelerated towards an officer while on a bike patrol. The officer had to jump off his bike to avoid being hit by the car. The bike was hit and thrown in the air. The vehicle then drove directly at an unoccupied squad car and hit it. Officers directed the driver to stop, but the driver ignored the demands.
The driver, later identified as Maye, instead backed his vehicle up with speed and hit two officers, knocking them to the ground causing injury. Officers then fired on the vehicle, which crashed. Maye was taken into custody and transported to Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, according to the complaint.
The complaint states several witnesses said they saw officers involved in the initial traffic stop of the other vehicle. They saw the yellow Chevy accelerate towards the officer riding the bicycle and then the vehicle rammed the squad car. Witnesses said they then saw the vehicle back up and hit several officers who were ordering the car to stop.
Two of the three officers were hurt in the incident. All three are licensed peace officers and were on-duy at the time of the incident.
Maye is in custody and if convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison and $60,000 in fines.
