A Portland man suspected of firing a gunshot after robbing a Vancouver convenience store at gunpoint made a first court appearance Thursday.
Ismail Sharif Abdullahi, 28, appeared in custody in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree robbery. Judge Bernard Veljacic set bail at $10,000, and an arraignment was scheduled for Jan. 9.
At 11:21 p.m. Feb. 4, Vancouver police officers responded to the AM/PM at 2829 E. Mill Plain Blvd. A cashier told police that a man had walked into the store, demanded money and pointed a gun at him, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The man held the gun in his left hand and racked the slide of the gun as though he was chambering a round, according to the affidavit. After the cashier handed the man between $100 and $150, the man left the store before the cashier heard what sounded like a gunshot outside, the affidavit said.
The man then fled east on Mill Plain at a high rate of speed in a Toyota Solara with a license plate that partially read “661K,” according to the affidavit. Two days later, police located the Toyota, with the license plate letters and other matching characteristics, on Eighth and Z streets in Vancouver.
Investigating officers later located a .45-caliber shell casing in the area and witnessed the gunshot on surveillance footage, according to the affidavit
A records check revealed that the car belonged to Abdullahi’s brother, the affidavit said. Items retrieved from the car — paperwork, a DNA swab and a red scarf believed to have been used as a mask during the robbery — were also linked to Abdullahi. Cellphone records also reveal that Abdullahi, who matches the cashier’s physical description of the robber, contacted a person who lives near where the car was found as well as a suspect in a Portland robbery the next day in which the same gun was used, the affidavit said.
A search warrant was later issued to extradite Abdullahi to the Clark County Jail.
