Mohamed Hared told police he shot a co-worker by accident, but prosecutors said the evidence showed escalation.
LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Surveillance video, a witness statement and Hared’s own 911 call shaped the Dakota County case that ended with a 128-month sentence for the fatal shooting of an Amazon co-worker.
Mohamed A. Hared, 26, was sentenced May 29 after pleading guilty in January to second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony. The victim, 22-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim Cariif, died June 29, 2024, outside an Amazon fulfillment center in Lakeville. Hared initially told police the shooting was accidental. Prosecutors said the evidence showed Hared accused two co-workers of stealing a gun accessory, fought with Cariif and fired twice.
When police arrived at the fulfillment center parking lot in the 9800 block of 217th Street West, they found a scene with three central witnesses to the facts, though only two men could speak to investigators. Cariif was face down between two cars and was pronounced dead at the scene. Hared stood nearby with a gun in his hand. A third man, who had carpooled with both co-workers and worked with them at the facility, had gone inside the building and waited for officers after calling for help. Hared was also one of the 911 callers. He identified himself and said he had accidentally shot a co-worker. In later statements to police, Hared said he had brought a firearm to work but left it in the witness’ car. He said he found a flashlight attachment missing from the gun during a break around 1 a.m. He accused Cariif and the third man of stealing the piece. He told investigators that Cariif became upset when questioned again hours later and advanced toward him.
The third man gave police a different account of the key moments. He said the three searched the vehicle for the missing attachment during a later break and still could not find it. He suggested calling security to review surveillance footage. Hared rejected that idea, according to the complaint, and accused the other two men again. The witness said Hared told them, “I want my flashlight back. No one’s going home today.” That statement became one of the most pointed details in the charging document.
Investigators then compared the witness account with security camera footage from the parking lot. The complaint said the footage showed Hared throwing the first punch in the first physical fight. It also said Hared had chances to retreat during the altercations but did not. That evidence challenged Hared’s statement that he was only trying to get away and had no choice but to defend himself. Prosecutors said he engaged in the fight before pulling out the gun during the second confrontation.
The sequence of the shots also mattered. The witness told police that when Hared pulled out the weapon, Cariif tried to grab it. Hared fired a first shot toward Cariif, but the bullet hit a car. Cariif yelled, “Don’t shoot me,” and the witness also yelled, “Don’t shoot,” according to the complaint. The witness estimated three to five seconds passed between the shots. Hared then fired a second time, striking Cariif, who fell in the walkway at 4:09 a.m.
The autopsy added the final medical fact to the case. The bullet entered Cariif’s chest and struck his heart, lung and aorta. The injury left no chance for a rescue in the public record, and first responders pronounced him dead where he fell. Police arrested Hared the same day. He was charged with second-degree murder and held in the Dakota County Jail on a $1 million bond as the case began moving through court.
The case did not go to trial. In January, Hared pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony. That plea resolved the criminal charge before jurors could be asked to weigh his statements against the surveillance footage and the witness account. At sentencing, Judge Richelle Wahi imposed a 128-month prison term and gave Hared credit for 700 days already served. The credit reflected the time he had spent in custody since the case began.
Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced the sentence and focused on the small object at the center of the dispute. “It’s so senseless the victim was shot to death over such a trivial matter,” Keena said. The county attorney’s office described Hared as a Faribault man and said he remained in custody at the Dakota County Jail after sentencing while awaiting transfer to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Public summaries do not identify the third co-worker by name, and they do not say whether the flashlight attachment was ever located. The available record also does not report that security was called before the argument turned violent. Those unknowns remain beside the resolved parts of the case: the date, the location, the two shots, Cariif’s death and Hared’s guilty plea. The evidence that challenged the accident claim became central to the path from arrest to sentence.
As of June 29, 2026, Hared’s criminal case has reached sentencing, with prison transfer as the remaining custody step. Cariif’s death remains tied in court records to a workplace break, a missing gun attachment and a confrontation captured partly on camera.
Author note: Last updated June 29, 2026.