Lakeville man charged with murder for fatal Bloomington restaurant shooting

By KSTP

47-year-old Aaron Le (Kay County Jail, Oklahoma)

(KSTP) – A Lakeville man has been formally charged for last week’s deadly shooting at a Bloomington strip mall.

Aaron Le, 47, has been charged by warrant with one count of second-degree murder and another charge of attempted second-degree murder. He remains in custody in Kay County, Oklahoma, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

The shooting happened Wednesday, Nov. 23, just after 1 p.m. at Cô Tư Oriental Cuisine, located in a shopping center near 89th Street and Penn Avenue.

There, police say two men were found shot — a 49-year-old regular of the restaurant and a 25-year-old server. The 49-year-old didn’t survive, however, the server was shot in the leg and is expected to recover.

According to the complaint, Le walked to the table the customer was sitting at and pointed a gun at him. Le was then chased out of the restaurant, but came back in. Multiple people tried to take the gun out of Le’s hand and get him outside, but he shot the 49-year-old multiple times, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, witnesses said a middle-aged man wore a Halloween mask and a maroon-colored hooded top, and the suspect dropped the gun, picked it up and put it in a Ziploc bag before leaving in a white van. Witnesses also said a second handgun was left at the scene.

Surveillance video showed a man looking in the restaurant, and at where the 49-year-old customer was inside. The man then came in and stood by the register and went back to the front door. The complaint says the man walked out and back into the restaurant and looked at the customer. He walked to the door and opened it for Le, and then walked out, but watched the events from outside the restaurant’s window.

A witness said the man eventually left in a dark-colored SUV. As of this time, that man hasn’t been found or identified.

The document goes on to say the 49-year-old customer was dating a woman who either recently divorced, or was in the process of divorcing, a man named Khai Le, and Le was jealous of the man’s interactions with his ex. Le had previously changed his legal name from Khai Ngoc Le to Aaron Le.

Earlier this year, the complaint says an FBI report was filed regarding a “contract to kill” call between Le, his ex-wife and the customer.

The complaint says Le was pulled over in Oklahoma after his phone was tracked through Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma. It had been turned off after the morning of Nov. 23.

If convicted, Le faces a maximum of 40 years in prison.