A carpool, an overnight break and a missing firearm accessory became central facts in the Dakota County case.
LAKEVILLE, Minn. — An overnight shift at a Lakeville Amazon fulfillment center ended in a fatal parking lot shooting, and nearly two years later the man who pulled the trigger has been sentenced to prison.
Mohamed A. Hared, 26, of Faribault, was sentenced May 29 in Dakota County District Court to 128 months for killing co-worker Ahmed Ibrahim Cariif, 22. Hared pleaded guilty in January to second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony. The sentence includes credit for 700 days served and follows a case built around a dispute that prosecutors said began with a missing flashlight attachment on Hared’s gun.
The first recorded trouble came during a work break around 1 a.m. on June 29, 2024. Hared, Cariif and a third man had driven together to the Amazon building in the 9800 block of 217th Street West. Hared told police he had brought his gun to work and left it in the other man’s car. When he went outside on break, he said the gun was still in the car but the flashlight accessory was gone. He blamed Cariif and the witness. Both men denied taking the attachment, and the shift continued.
By about 4 a.m., the three men were back at the car during another break. They looked again for the missing piece. The witness later told investigators he suggested bringing in security to check parking lot surveillance video. That suggestion could have moved the dispute away from the three men and into the hands of staff at the facility, but prosecutors said Hared rejected it. Instead, he kept pressing the accusation, telling the men they had taken his flashlight and saying no one was going home that day.
What happened next became the focus of the criminal complaint. Hared said Cariif became angry after being accused and moved as if he wanted to fight. Hared told police he tried to get away and warned Cariif, “Stop man, I don’t want to have to use this.” He said Cariif kept advancing and that the gun went off during a struggle. Investigators said other evidence told a different story. A witness account and surveillance footage showed Hared was not simply backing away, according to the complaint. The video reviewed by police showed Hared throwing the first punch in the first altercation, prosecutors said. The complaint said he had multiple chances to retreat but did not. After the witness broke up the first fight, a second one followed minutes later. During that second fight, Hared pulled the gun from his waistband. The witness said Cariif tried to grab it once it appeared. Hared fired one shot that hit a nearby car. Cariif and the witness both pleaded for Hared not to shoot again.
Police said the second shot came within seconds. Cariif fell in the walkway at 4:09 a.m. The witness ran into the building because he feared he could also be shot. Multiple people at the fulfillment center called 911 to report gunfire. Hared also called 911, identified himself and said he had accidentally shot a co-worker. Officers arrived to find Cariif lying face down between two cars while Hared stood nearby with the gun. First responders pronounced Cariif dead at the scene.
The medical findings gave prosecutors a clear account of the fatal injury. An autopsy found the bullet entered Cariif’s chest and struck his heart, lung and aorta. The case did not turn on whether Hared fired the gun, because he told police he had done so. It turned on whether the shooting matched his claim of accident and self-defense, or whether the surrounding evidence showed he escalated the confrontation. Prosecutors relied on the witness, the timing between shots and the surveillance review.
The legal case began with Hared’s arrest on June 29, 2024, and a second-degree murder charge. He was 24 at the time and was held in the Dakota County Jail on a $1 million bond after the charge was filed. The matter remained pending until Hared entered his guilty plea in January. By accepting guilt to second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony, Hared avoided a trial over the competing accounts of the fight and shooting. The May 29 hearing set the prison term.
Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced the sentencing and said the killing grew out of a trivial dispute. “It’s so senseless the victim was shot to death over such a trivial matter,” Keena said. The county attorney’s office said Judge Richelle Wahi imposed the 128-month term. After sentencing, Hared remained in the Dakota County Jail while awaiting transfer to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, where the prison sentence will be carried out under state custody rules.
The record leaves some details outside public view. The third man’s name has not been released in public summaries. Public accounts do not say that the missing flashlight attachment was ever found. They also do not report an Amazon security review before the shooting, because prosecutors said Hared refused the witness’ suggestion to call security. What is clear in the charging documents and sentencing release is the timeline from the 1 a.m. discovery to the 4:09 a.m. gunshot that killed Cariif.
The case stands at the correctional stage, with Hared sentenced and credited for time served. The next formal step is his transfer from Dakota County custody to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Author note: Last updated June 29, 2026.