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Three charged in shooting that left football player paralyzed

<i>WCCO via CNN Newsource</i><br/>The shooting left Michael Blidi Jr. paraplegic
WCCO via CNN Newsource
The shooting left Michael Blidi Jr. paraplegic

By WCCO Staff

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    BROOKLYN Park, Minnesota (WCCO) — Three men, two of them brothers, have been charged in connection with a shooting that left a promising young football player paralyzed.

Each of the men is charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and a dangerous weapons charge, court records show.

According to a criminal complaint, one of the three men shot Michael Blidi Jr. on May 29 while they were inside a vehicle and Blidi was standing outside his home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. It’s unclear who actually fired at Blidi.

The complaint states Blidi had punched one of the men during an altercation at a basketball game a few days before the shooting. One of the men made threats toward Blidi both in person and on social media, investigators said.

Blidi was a star outside linebacker at a central Pennsylvania high school and had a scholarship to play football at an Iowa community college. The shooting left him paraplegic, according to the complaint, but he told WCCO he hopes to someday walk and play football again.

The suspect vehicle fled after the shooting, but police tracked it to an apartment building in Brooklyn Park via surveillance video. Three men exited the vehicle and entered the apartment building, investigators said, and a fourth later left the building and moved the car.

The fourth man, who lived in the apartment building, told police the three men said “something had gone down,” according to the complaint, and gave him a handgun. During a search of the apartment, police found two handguns and additional ammunition. A cartridge casing found inside the vehicle matched one of the handguns.

All three men charged are in custody. The fourth man is not charged.

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