King County prosecutors on Friday charged Faisal Guled Adan, 21, of Kent, with second-degree murder in the shooting death of a 27-year-old Metro bus passenger on Nov. 29 in Renton.
Adan is also charged with second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm. He is being held without bail at the county jail in Seattle. He is scheduled to be arrainged Dec. 15 in King County Superior Court.
Ahmed Sheikah died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
On the afternoon of Nov. 29, Adan and Sheikah were both sitting near each other on Metro bus route 169 through Renton. According to court documents, the two men did not know each other and had “no legitimate quarrel.”
Witnesses reported the two men speaking in a foreign language, but did not note any apparent tension between them when without warning Adan reportedly stood up and shot Sheikah four times at close range.
Adan then walked to the front of the bus, pointed the gun at the driver and demanded he open the door, which the driver did. Adan fled on foot.
Soon after, according to the documents, two residents on Smithers Avenue saw Adan walk out from behind a vehicle with his hands up and said he was the one they were looking for, adding “I did it.”
Police arrived soon after and detained Adan, reading him his rights. Witnesses from the bus identified him as the shooter.
In a recorded statement post-Miranda rights, Adan initially said he did not know Sheikah, was shown a picture of himself and denied it was him and then said “people were trying to set him up and kill him.”
According to the documents, Adan told police he overheard Sheikah on the phone telling the other person that he was coming down the hill toward Sam’s Club and said he was “not going to be a victim” and that he thought Sheikah was going to kill him when they got off the bus.
Adan also admitted to officers that he used drugs and alcohol before getting on the bus.
Renton Police found the weapon in a nearby yard.
Paramedics transported Sheikah to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in critical condition with gunshot wounds to his head, shoulder and hand. He died Dec. 1.
Adan’s bail was originally set Dec. 1 at $5 million, but the nature of his crime and a list of felony convictions including second-degree robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and first-degree theft, as well as several juvenile convictions led the state to ask for a change in bail status.
According to court documents, the underlying facts of Adan’s felony convictions involve violent behavior and he is alleged to have used a firearm in the robbery.
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