Minnesota gunmen sentenced to 40 years for attacking Gwinnett gang rivals

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA – A pair of Minnesota gunmen pled guilty to gang charges for their roles in the Somalian Outlawz’s gang hit in Snellville Salih Ahmad Abdi, 24, and Abdulrahman Munye Haji-Sufi, 24, pled guilty to two counts of Violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the January 2022 Snellville shooting that killed 28-year-old Tewodros “Teddy” Haile and seriously injured 36-year-old Fahmi Omer Ahmed.

Haji-Sufi and Abdi, who were both 19 at the time of the shooting, were sentenced to 40 years with 25 and 30, respectively, to serve in prison.

“These young men have thrown away their lives,” Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “And their actions were a danger not only to the victims, but to the entire community where this shooting took place.”

On Jan. 7, 2022, police were called when two men were shot near Summit View Court in Snellville. One of the victims was dead when officers arrived, and the second man was taken to a nearby hospital. Witnesses in the neighborhood told police two Black men dressed in all black with black masks shot the victims and fled in a white SUV.

One of the witnesses, a friend whose house where the victims were, had given his car keys to Haile to drive. The friend told investigators that when Haile left the house to drive, he heard gunfire and found Haile suffering from a gunshot wound with a duffle bag full of marijuana. Ahmed was shot six times but survived. Both victims were armed, police said.

Georgia Bureau of Investigations agents identified the SUV as a rental vehicle and used Flock cameras to track the defendants’ movements. Police determined that the defendants were from Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis Police investigators identified the defendants as members of the Somalian Outlawz criminal street gang, and a police gang expert said that they were expendable paid hitmen. Investigators were also able to link the defendants to a Jan. 1, 2022, shooting in Fayetteville, GA, as well as a shooting in San Diego, CA. 

The defendants were arrested on Feb. 14, 2022, by police in Covina, CA, in a car with disassembled gun parts from the San Diego shooting. Investigators also identified the driver of the SUV, a member of Chicago’s Black Disciple criminal gang who is deceased. 

Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Ryan Smith and Drug and Gang Task Force (DGTF) Assistant District Attorney Aspen Talley prosecuted the case with assistance from DGTF Investigators John Wilbanks, Yayoi Huggins, Doug Loomis, and Kevin Williams, Victim Witness Director Beth Gorski and Victim Witness Advocate Melissa Escobar.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations, the Snellville Police Department, the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Minneapolis Police Department and the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office were invaluable in helping to prosecute this case.