Man Fired AK-47 Throughout South Minneapolis Apartment Complex: Police

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis man is accused of repeatedly firing an AK-47 inside a south apartment building last week.

On Thursday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Nathan Mellstrom Matz, 39, with three counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He faces up to seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine.

On Sept. 7 at about 4:50 a.m., officers responded to multiple 911 calls about an active shooter at an apartment building located on the 4000 block of Minnehaha Avenue.

Police heard multiple gunshots as they entered the building to evacuate residents.

Officers found Matz on the second floor in a stairwell holding an AK-47 rifle, according to the criminal complaint.

Police ordered Matz to drop his rifle, but refused "for approximately one minute and twenty seconds," according to prosecutors.

An officer fired a single shot at Matz, striking him, then approached and disarmed him, police said. Matz remains hospitalized and is expected to survive.

Agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension interviewed residents of the apartment building and a nearby house.

A resident identified as "Victim 1" was in his unit on the third floor when he heard loud noises. He stepped outside his apartment and saw Matz crouched down and holding a long gun, according to the criminal complaint.

Victim 1 immediately retreated into his apartment before hearing a gunshot out in the hallway, according to police. Victim 1 armed himself with a butcher knife and an iron skillet as he called 911, the criminal complaint states.

BCA agents found a bullet hole in "close proximity to where Victim 1 had been standing when he stepped outside his apartment."

Victim 2, who owns a house across the street from the apartment building, heard approximately five gunshots and her house was hit by bullets.

Victim 2 believed that her house was targeted during the shooting, the criminal complaint states.

Victim 3, who lived on the third floor of the apartment building, awoke to the sound of gunfire and realized it was coming through his apartment floor, police said.

Half asleep, he got up and put his finger through one of the holes to confirm what he was perceiving, according to the criminal complaint.

Victim 3 began hearing gunfire in other areas of the apartment and reported that it felt like a "life or death situation" and that the gunshots were fired in a "semi-circle around [him]," police said.