MINNEAPOLIS — A man is recovering after being shot eight times by two suspects who wanted to steal a big pull tab payout.
In a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, prosecutors detail the incident, which took place the evening of Aug. 13 in Northeast Minneapolis. Police were dispatched to the intersection of 15th Ave. NE and Monroe Street NE shortly after 7 p.m. on reports of a shooting and found a man who was receiving first aid for gunshot wounds.
The victim told officers that he and a friend had been playing pull tabs at the Vegas Lounge Bar when two men approached and asked what box he was playing out of, and if they were winning. When he told the men he didn't need to tell them anything, they reportedly walked away angry.
Shortly after the encounter, the victim won $1,000 and he and his friend left the bar to have dinner. When they pulled up to park the two men from the bar pulled up in a small SUV and jumped out. One, identified as 34-year-old Anthony Ferrara, allegedly pointed a gun at the victim while the second, ID'd as 37-year-old Charles Schroedl, demanded the pull tab winnings.
The victim told investigators he was trying to take off a bag he was carrying that held the money when Ferrerar opened fire. Witnesses saw the men fleeing the scene in the dark SUV.
A passerby who was also an off-duty EMT jumped in to provide aid until paramedics arrived to transport the victim to Hennepin County Medical Center. Doctors there found he had been shot eight times — four bullets entering his left leg, two hitting his right leg, and two shots piercing his abdomen.
Investigators identified the robbery and shooting suspects through surveillance video and pull tab-winning forms, citing Ferrara's distinctive tattoos as seen in Facebook photos of the suspect.
On Aug. 16, police located Ferrara sleeping in a vehicle parked in an alley off Minnehaha and Snelling Avenues in Minneapolis. He was already wanted on an outstanding warrant for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Inside the vehicle, officers located a 9mm handgun between the driver's seat and center console, an AR-style pistol in the rear cargo area and suspected methamphetamine.
Both Ferrara and Schroedl are charged with first-degree assault and aggravated robbery, while Ferrar faces an additional count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Ferrara is ineligible to possess a gun due to three previous felony convictions. He is being held in the Hennepin County Jail, while Schroedl is not currently in custody.
