Rochester shooting victim dared suspect to pull trigger, witnesses say
25-year-old Alexander Weiss
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KMSP) - The young man shot and killed in Rochester over the weekend dared his murderer to pull the trigger, according to witnesses of the incident who say they'll be in court to testify against the shooter.
Muhammed Rahim was shot Sunday morning around 8:20 a.m. at the intersection of 31st Street NE and East River Road in Rochester following a confrontation stemming from a crash, and later died at a nearby hospital. The shooter had a legal permit to carry, police said, though he remains in jail on suspicion of murder.
Two of his friends saw the entire incident unfold, telling Fox 47 they held their friend in his final moments as he bled out on the cold pavement.
"I tried holding and putting pressure on it and everything, trying to make it stop," Riley Bongiorno, one of Rahim's friends, said. "I could just see in his eyes that he wasn't coming back."
At the time of the incident Rahim, Bongiorno and another passenger, Noah Dukart, were in a vehicle that had run into a roadside ditch. They were able to free their car, but backed out into another vehicle driven by 25-year-old Alexander Weiss.
"The guy who we hit wanted to fight," Bongiorno said. "My friend got in his face, then [Weiss] pulled a gun out."
Rahim, according to his friends, dared him to shoot--and shoot he did.
Those who live in the area, meanwhile, were shocked to hear about the strange sequence of events in their relatively quiet residential neighborhood--especially during what many consider the morning rush hour.
"This is really surprising to hear, that somebody died right on the corner," said Luciana Smith, who lives nearby the scene. "I go to work at nine o'clock, so sometimes I do leave at like 8:30 or 8:45 in the morning. I'm glad that God made sure that I was out of the way."
Weiss is being held on probable cause for second-degree murder while charges are expected in the case sometime this week.