Third Austin man charged with second-degree murder for drive-by shooting
Jun. 16—AUSTIN — Another Austin man has been charged in connection to
a drive-by shooting that killed one and injured two
on an Austin street last week, according to new charges filed in Mower County District Court.
Jenup Stepen Chop, 18, and Manamany Omot Abella, 23, are both being held on a $750,000 bail and Cham Obang Oman, 28, is being held on a $500,000 bail. The men are each facing felony charges of second-degree murder with intent, second-degree murder in a drive-by shooting, two counts of second-degree attempted murder in a drive-by shooting and shooting toward a person with a dangerous weapon, all felonies.
Oman is accused of being the driver with Abella and Chop as passengers when
about a dozen rounds were fired from their vehicle into another vehicle
as they traveled along an Austin road the night of June 9, 2023.
All three will be required to submit to GPS monitoring if they post bail and are barred from contact with each other or the alleged victims or witnesses. As of Friday morning, all are listed as in custody in the Mower County jail.
Chop is scheduled to appear in court June 29, 2023. Abella and Oman are scheduled for June 26, 2023.
According to the criminal complaints:
Austin Police Department officers arrived at Fourth Street Northwest in Austin around 10:39 a.m. regarding a call for a car accident with injuries. It was determined that the car crash was due to a shooting from another vehicle.
A man was found deceased in the driver's seat of the crashed vehicle. Another man was found sitting near the road with a gunshot wound to his upper arm and a woman was found with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. Both the wounded man and woman were transported to Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Austin before being transported to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys in Rochester. A pair of people who witnesses said were also in the vehicle have not been located.
A witness said they were following Oman and Abella, who were driving a white 2020 Dodge Durango, to pick something up when the Durango pulled up alongside the alleged victim's vehicle and opened fire, causing the vehicle to eventually crash into a house. Another witness said he was not sure who did the shooting and did not see the vehicle.
A man who saw the shooting attempted to follow the Durango on his motorcycle when several shots were taken at the witness, deterring him from following them.
Law enforcement found several shell casings and one live round where the shooting began. At least 12 bullet holes were located on the driver's side of the alleged victim's vehicle.
Further investigation found that Chop was also in the vehicle during the shooting.
