2nd suspect faces criminal charges in Brainerd drive-by shooting

BRAINERD — A second suspect was charged in connection with an April 16 drive-by shooting in Brainerd.

Ayden Furlong-Mulligan, 18, was charged Friday, April 28, in Crow Wing County District Court. Furlong-Mulligan is accused of driving the vehicle from which Ridge Kinney, 21, Baxter, as a passenger, allegedly fired several shots at a man in another vehicle on the 700 block of West College Drive.

Furlong-Mulligan was charged with felony premeditated aiding and abetting first-degree attempted murder, felony aiding and abetting second-degree attempted murder in a drive-by shooting, felony aiding and abetting attempted first-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm, felony aiding and abetting second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon/firearm and felony aiding and abetting a dangerous weapons crime involving a drive-by shooting.

Contributed / Crow Wing County Jail

The victim, a 29-year-old Brainerd man, suffered a grazing gunshot wound to the right side of his head just below the hairline, his right eye was swollen shut and his face suffered multiple cuts due to shards of glass from the vehicle driver's door window embedding in his face and right eye.

Kinney was charged April 18 in Crow Wing County District Court with several serious felonies — premeditated first degree attempted murder, second degree attempted murder in a drive-by shooting, first degree assault, second degree assault with a dangerous weapon, second degree assault causing substantial bodily harm and dangerous weapons violation in a drive-by shooting toward an occupied vehicle.

Shooting incidentAccording to the criminal complaint filed against Furlong-Mulligan, about 2:18 p.m. April 16 Brainerd Police officers responded to a report of a shooting incident on the 700 block of West College Drive. Officers arrived and located a vehicle parked on Southwest Eighth Street with the driver's side front window shot out. Officers located a victim in a residence at a nearby apartment complex. The victim was taken to Essentia Health-St. Joseph's Medical Center emergency room.

While at the hospital the victim provided a statement to officers, saying he had just ended a relationship with his girlfriend and the two had an argument Sunday over property he left at her residence.

The victim said his ex-girlfriend recently began a romantic relationship with Kinney and the victim received text messages and phone calls after the argument from Kinney wanting to “discuss things.” The victim replied to Kinney that he would meet him on the 700 block of West College Drive.

When the victim turned his vehicle onto Southwest Eighth Street off College Drive, he noticed what he thought was his ex-girlfriend’s car in the parking lot. The victim said he drove up to the cul-de-sac on Southwest Eighth Street to turn around and a vehicle matching his ex-girlfriend's pulled up next to him, both facing south in the cul-de-sac. The victim saw the passenger window of the car roll down and a male, wearing a black ski mask, pointed a small black handgun out of the window and fired six to seven shots at him, shattering the front driver's side window.

The victim suffered a grazing shot in the head and glass shattered into his face. A juvenile passenger also was in the victim’s car and the victim leaned over and covered the juvenile while gunshots were hitting the vehicle.

The suspect vehicle fled the scene but the vehicle was later identified by investigators through video surveillance. The victim said he could not see who the driver of the vehicle was but did notice the passenger who fired the shots — later identified as Kinney — had several visible tattoos on his hands.

Investigators processing the scene located broken glass and five spent 9-millimeter shell casings in the snow, some of which were within the snow above the ground, indicating they were recently shot from a handgun since the snow began falling that morning.

While processing the exterior of the victim's vehicle, there appeared to be bullet trajectory starting from the rear of the vehicle, to the center of the driver's side, and some from the front of the vehicle, indicating the suspect vehicle was likely moving when several of the shots were fired.

Assisting officers located the suspect vehicle at the ex-girlfriend’s residence. Officers surrounded the residence and Kinney and Furlong-Mulligan exited a back door and ran away from the residence. Officers were able to capture both Kinney and Furlong-Mulligan.

A search warrant was conducted at the residence.

Officers found fresh foot tracks in the snow coming from the residence to a wooded area behind the residence. Officers located two 9-millimeter handguns hidden in the wooded area where the foot tracks led them. A black ski mask was located in a bedroom of Furlong-Mulligan. It had only a single eye hole as described by the victim.

While being interviewed by investigators, Kinney denied any involvement in the shooting and said he had not spoken to the victim for months. Furlong-Mulligan claimed he had been at a casino and arrived home between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. April 16, saying he checked out of the casino and drove directly home. Furlong-Mulligan was released from custody at that time.

During the next several days, officers obtained video from the casino showing Furlong-Mulligan checking out of the casino at noon. It is a 45-minute drive from the casino to the residence, putting Furlong-Mulligan there between 12:45 p.m. and 1 p.m.

Officers learned the two firearms located behind the residence were purchased by the ex-girlfriend. The smaller gun was for her and the larger gun was for Furlong-Mulligan to use in his business "selling drugs," the criminal complaint said, and he usually carried the gun with him.

Officers interviewed a witness Wednesday who had been at the residence the day of the shooting. The witness told officers they saw Kinney and Furlong-Mulligan leaving the residence in the ex-girlfriend’s vehicle around 2 p.m. on the day of the shooting. Both were dressed in black and Furlong-Mulligan had a knit cap sticking out of his pocket. The witness observed them arrive back at the residence and Furlong-Mulligan was driving the vehicle.

Furlong-Mulligan was being held in the Crow Wing County Jail Friday afternoon on $500,000 bond or bail with conditions and $750,000 bond or bail without conditions. Conditions of his release include remaining law-abiding, making all court appearances, contacting an attorney, not leaving the state without approval, not using or possessing firearms, no alcohol or controlled substance use or possession, to be subject to random testing, no entering bars or liquor stores and to have no contact with the victims.

Furlong-Mulligan’s next court appearance is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 11.