Search warrant gives details on Jan. 6 shooting in Lorain

ELYRIA — A search warrant filed and unsealed in Lorain County Common Pleas Court has given more details into the shooting of two men on Pearl Avenue in Lorain on Jan. 6. The shooting apparently took place at or just outside the residence of a convicted drug trafficker, according to Lorain police and Common Pleas Court records. Lorain police said two Lorain men were found shot and seriously injured just after midnight by officers who responded to the area of East 28th Street and Pearl Avenue for a report of shots fired. In approving a search warrant seeking illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, cell phones, other evidence of illegal drug dealing, weapons, firearms and ammunition, Judge Chris Cook on Jan. 6 gave Lorain police permission to search Apartment 202 at 2813 Pearl Ave. The search warrant affidavit, written by detective Howard Heathcoat, explains that a witness called 911 after hearing a shot coming from inside the building and another outside. Officers found Donald Hall bleeding from a gunshot wound, and in possession of a large plastic bag containing a large amount of marijuana, according to the search warrant. He told officers he had not been inside the apartment and was shot while outside the building. A second 911 call was received from victim Richard Cook, who said he also was shot. Cook was found a block away from the scene of the shooting near East 28th Street and Seneca Avenue, according to Lorain police. Both Cook and Hall were shot in their torsos and were taken to Mercy Hospital, police said. Cook said he and Hall, who are friends, went to Apartment 202 at 2813 Pearl Ave. because a man named "Taalib" owed Cook "either money and marijuana or money for marijuana," he told police. Officers found blood at the front entrance of the building housing Apartment 202 and "all the way to the top of the stairs" there, according to the affidavit. As they searched for more victims, a man named Taalib Abdul-Muntaqim came out of Apartment 202 and was detained. Inside the apartment officers saw "large amounts of water on the living room floor, as well as wet towels and wet clothes on the floor in the bathroom area," according to the affidavit. Heathcoat wrote that he followed the blood trail all the way into the apartment from outside, and also saw two cellphones on a couch through the open door. Abdul-Muntaqim, 48, was taken to the Lorain Police Department for questioning but invoked his right to remain silent and requested an attorney, according to the affidavit. The search warrant noted he has prior criminal convictions for trafficking illegal drugs, which court records showed were in 2006 and 2013. Abdul-Muntaqim has another conviction for cocaine possession from in May 2019, court records showed. In each case, he was sentenced to either probation or local jail time. He also has a lengthy record of arrests resulting in charges of domestic violence, DUI, disorderly conduct, marijuana possession and traffic charges in both Elyria and Lorain municipal courts, according to court records. No charges have yet been filed against Abdul-Muntaqim in connection with the Jan. 6 shootings. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Lorain Police Detective Bureau at (440) 204-2105. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.