Twin Cities Man Facing Federal Charges For Straw Purchasing Guns, Including One Used In St. Paul Mass Shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities man is facing federal charges for straw purchasing guns, including one firearm that was used in the October mass shooting at a St. Paul bar.

The U.S. Attorney's Office District of Minnesota says 27-year-old Gabriel Lee Young-Duncan, of St. Paul, is charged with one count of conspiracy to make false statements in purchasing a firearm. He made his first court appearance Tuesday.

According to investigators, between May and October, Young-Duncan participated in a plan with another person to illegally purchase multiple firearms. The two would lie to Federal Firearms Licensees throughout the Twin Cities.

The scheme worked like this: The other person would purchase the gun, stating on a federal form that they were the actual buyer, and then they'd transfer the gun to Young-Duncan, who'd keep the gun or transfer it to another person.

One of the guns purchased in the scheme was fired during the mass shooting on Oct. 10 at St. Paul's Seventh Street Truck Park Bar. That shooting left one woman dead and 14 people injured. Two men have been charged in that case.

Investigators say that Young-Duncan's co-conspirator is already facing charges for the straw purchasing scheme.