Just seconds after pleading guilty in June to attempted murder, authorities say Timothy Ka Vang threatened a previous victim who was sitting in the courtroom.
Vang, 25, was returning to the inmate holding area from the St. Paul courtroom when he turned toward the victim and used his hand to mimic a gun and “shoot” the individual three times, according to charges filed in Ramsey County District Court.
“Did you see that?!?” the individual exclaimed, according the complaint.
“He just ‘shot’ at me!” the individual said.
The judge called Vang back into the courtroom and warned him that violating the terms of his plea agreement could diminish the advantage anticipated from the plea deal.
As a deputy walked Vang back to the inmate holding area, Vang fixed his stare on the victim, “sneering” directly at the person with a “smirk” on his face, the complaint said.
The individual later said he feared retaliation from Vang.
“He is going to prison. After that he gets out and has nothing to lose. He is going to come after my family!” the victim said in the complaint.
Vang was charged with one count of terroristic threats.
He is a member of the Asian Bloods Gang and has reportedly intimidated that family for several years, according to the complaint.
The target of the gun-mimicking action was a victim of second-degree assault by Vang in 2012.
Vang was also convicted of felony-level domestic assault in 2015.
Following the June guilty plea to two counts of second-degree attempted murder, Vang was sentenced last month to 27 years in prison for shooting at his in-laws in January.
Vang and his wife had been separated for about a year at the time.
After quarreling with his wife’s brother, Vang went to his estranged wife’s home in St. Paul on Jan. 28 and opened fire, sniper-style, after knocking on their door.
Vang’s brother-in-law and mother-in-law were both shot; they survived their injuries.