$65 Dispute Ends In Triple Execution

A Minnesota man accused of gunning down three apartment office workers over a $65 parking fee told police he “hated the American system,” according to court records tied to the case.

Story Snapshot

Tsegaab Binessu, 30, is charged with murdering three employees at a St. Paul apartment leasing office on July 20.
Court documents allege the shooting followed a dispute over canceling a monthly garage rental contract.
Reports say Binessu told investigators he “hated the American system” and felt mistreated as a black immigrant.
He was arrested in northern Minnesota’s Iron Range less than 24 hours after the killings.

Leasing Office Dispute Turns Deadly

Police in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood found three adults shot to death inside an apartment complex leasing office on July 20, after officers responded to a report of shots fired around 4:10 p.m. Prosecutors charged Binessu, a tenant at the property, with three counts of murder the next day. One victim has been identified as 25-year-old Nansi Fuentes Zambrano.

Court documents say the shooting stemmed from Binessu’s attempt to cancel a $65 monthly parking agreement and an argument that followed at the office. Surveillance video reportedly captured the attack, and charging papers claim Binessu later confessed to his roommate that he “executed” the three victims. He was taken into custody in St. Louis County within a day of the killings.

Suspect’s Statements to Investigators

During questioning, Binessu reportedly told police he “hated the American system” and believed he had been treated unfairly because he is Black and an immigrant. Coverage of the case has connected that statement to broader personal frustrations he described, including a failed effort to bring family members to the United States from Ethiopia, a divorce, and leaving a job in trucking. Prosecutors have not filed any formal hate-crime or terrorism enhancement tied to those remarks.

Two Competing Explanations, One Set of Facts

The public record on this case shows two explanations that are not mutually exclusive. One centers on a narrow, transactional dispute — a tenant angry over a parking contract who escalated to violence at the office where the decision was made. The other treats his reported comments about the “American system” and discrimination as evidence of a deeper ideological or grievance-driven motive. Investigators have not resolved which frame best explains the killings.

This pattern echoes other recent Minnesota violence where early facts arrived quickly, but full motive pictures took much longer to firm up. In the Annunciation Catholic School shooting, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initially cited a “hate-filled ideology,” while extremism researchers argued the shooter’s own writings showed a messier, less coherent worldview. Investigators in that case ultimately said the gunman “harbored a whole lot of hate towards a wide variety of people.”

Why the Language Matters to Both Sides

For readers frustrated with immigration policy failures, a suspect’s stated hatred of “the American system” lands as confirmation of long-held fears about vetting and assimilation. For readers focused on discrimination and fair treatment, the same suspect’s claim of feeling unfairly targeted as a Black immigrant raises separate, uncomfortable questions about how newcomers experience daily friction with landlords, employers, and institutions. Neither concern excuses the killings, and prosecutors have charged this as a straightforward triple murder.

The case now moves toward trial in Ramsey County, where prosecutors will need to prove premeditation and intent rather than motive alone. Binessu’s comments to investigators may surface in court, but Minnesota murder statutes do not require prosecutors to establish why someone killed, only that they did so intentionally. A trial date has not yet been publicly set.