Federal Jury Finds Minneapolis Bloods Gang Member Guilty of Firearms Violations After Shooting at 38th and Chicago Avenue

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A federal jury found a Minneapolis man guilty of possessing ammunition as a felon after participating in a 2022 shooting at 38th and Chicago in South Minneapolis, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to the evidence presented at trial, in the early morning hours of August 7, 2022, Traigh Sean Tillman, 30, was involved in an altercation outside an abandoned Speedway parking lot located at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis. Surveillance video footage shows Tillman armed with a gun as he approached a parked car. Tillman opened the driver’s-side door and began to wrestle with the driver. During the scuffle, Tillman can be seen firing two shots. Tillman accidentally fired the second shot into his own leg. Tillman can then be seen on the surveillance video limping away from the vehicle. Records show he went to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where he provided false accounts of his injuries, then left the hospital against medical advice. According to the indictment, Tillman is a member of the Minneapolis Bloods street gang.

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

Following a two-day trial before Judge Susan Richard Nelson in U.S. District Court, Tillman was found guilty of one count of possession of ammunition as a felon. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Minneapolis Police Department. the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Calhoun-Lopez and David M. Classen tried the case.