James William Turner, Possession of Ammunition as a Felon, Minnesota 2024

A 44-year-old Fridley man has pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition as a felon after firing multiple shots at a residence in north Minneapolis, striking an 11-year-old child in the face.

According to court documents, just after midnight on January 1, 2024, officers of the Minneapolis Police Department received a report of a shooting at a residence in north Minneapolis. When officers arrived at the scene, a woman told them that shots had been fired outside the residence and a round had struck the woman’s 11-year-old child in the face.

The minor victim was sitting in a second-story bedroom when they heard gunshots outside the residence at approximately midnight. The minor victim went to the window to observe when a round came through the window and hit them in the face.

According to court documents, officers obtained a Snapchat video of James William Turner that was filmed just prior to the shooting. The two-minute video showed Turner outside, near the victim’s residence, speaking angrily to the camera before panning it to show an AR-style rifle lying across the driver’s seat of a vehicle.

A neighbor provided officers with a doorbell surveillance video that showed Turner fire multiple rounds in the direction of the victim’s bedroom window. Officers found eight live cartridges and 24 discharged cartridge casings throughout the boulevard, sidewalk, and yard.

Because Turner has prior felony convictions, he is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.

Turner pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court before Judge Ann D. Montgomery to one count of possession of ammunition as a felon. This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Minneapolis Police Department, with assistance from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristian C.S. Weir is prosecuting the case.

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