Authorities have charged a St. Paul man in connection with the shooting of an innocent bystander in downtown Minneapolis last week.
Delorien Chatman, 28, is charged with two counts of assault as well as one count of possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent. Chatman’s bail has been set at $500,000.
“We requested a higher bail in this case because the alleged shooting by Mr. Chatman seriously injured an innocent man,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman in a statement on the charges. “As I’ve said before, we will continue to use the tools available to us to combat these senseless shootings.”
Authorities say that at 7:17 p.m. Tuesday, police arrived at a reported shooting scene near a bus stop at Sixth Street and Hennepin Avenue. They found a man with a gunshot wound to his stomach. Witnesses told police the man was an innocent bystander, according to the criminal complaint.
Two men had gotten into a fight and the alleged gunman was knocked to the ground, according to witnesses. He fired a shot that hit the other man and then ran away, according to the complaint.
Based on witness descriptions of what the shooter wore as well as surveillance video, Chatman was later arrested.
According to the complaint, Chatman denied being in Minneapolis on the day of the shooting and said that he doesn’t go to that city’s downtown. Chatman continued to tell authorities this even after being shown images of him in Minneapolis.
He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday.