Man Who Fired Fully Automatic Handgun in Deadly Minneapolis Shooting Gets 16 Years

(KNSI) – A man who opened fire with a fully automatic handgun in a crowded downtown Minneapolis parking lot, killing one man and wounding two bystanders, has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud sentenced 32-year-old Casey Jemar Davis on Thursday for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

During the hearing, Tostrud called Davis’s actions brutal and sadistic and said he poses a great threat to public safety.

According to court documents, the shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. on July 28th, 2022, outside a sports bar near North 4th Street and North 1st Avenue. A fight inside the bar led to an argument in the parking lot between Davis and a group of men standing next to an SUV.

Davis was carrying a .40-caliber Glock fitted with a “switch,” a small device that lets a handgun fire like a machine gun with a single pull of the trigger. Prosecutors say surveillance video shows the man Davis was arguing with held a gun pointed at the ground, and Davis’s co-defendant, Cleveland Longmire, fired toward the ground near him. As the man turned to run, Davis shot him several times in the back, legs and arms, killing him. Two bystanders were also hit.

Investigators found more than 20 casings from Davis’s gun in the parking lot. The victim’s gun was never fired.

Davis drove off as officers arrived, and he spent nearly two and a half years on the run before police caught him in St. Paul on February 20th, 2025. He had another switch-equipped gun on him at the time.

In January, Davis was sentenced to 24 and a half years in Hennepin County after pleading guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Longmire was sentenced to seven and a half years on January 9th, 2024. Prosecutors say both men are members of the HAM Crazy street gang.

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