Nimo Abdi, 32, was asleep with her 4-year-old son when a bullet struck her home in Riverton Park early Saturday morning. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

A Portland man is facing multiple charges following a shooting in the Riverton Park housing complex that injured one woman and left a bullet hole in the wall of a room where a mother and child were sleeping.

Abdihamit Ali, 22, of Portland was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with elevated aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and violating conditions of release, Maj. Robert Martin of the Portland Police Department said Wednesday.

Police say a 20-year-old woman was shot while standing in Riverton Park just after 3 a.m. Saturday. Ali fired several rounds in a “targeted attack,” Martin said in a news release.

The woman, whose name and connection to the alleged shooter have not been released, was treated at Maine Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries.

A fired bullet struck a nearby apartment where a family was sleeping. Nimo Abdi said she and her 4-year-old were asleep on a mattress across the room from where the bullet came through the wall. Two other bullets struck the exterior of her mother’s apartment next door.

Martin said police continue to investigate the motive for the shooting, but believe it was connected to an altercation that occurred earlier at The Woodfords Club on Woodford Street.

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Ali has a criminal record, according to the Maine State Bureau of Identification. State records indicate that Ali lives on Oxford Street in Portland.

Ali has had multiple encounters with law enforcement dating back to 2018, ranging from violating conditions of release and criminal trespassing to illegal possession of a firearm and aggravated assault.

State records, which do not provide details about the incidents, also indicate that some of the charges were dismissed and that Ali did not serve significant jail time. The charges originated from jurisdictions including Portland, Old Orchard Beach, and Milo, in Piscataquis County.

In January 2020, Ali and Ahmed Mahdi, 41, were arrested by Portland police in connection with an early morning confrontation that involved gunfire on Boyd Street near Kennedy Park in Portland.

Mahdi was charged with reckless conduct with a firearm while Ali was charged with trespassing and violating conditions of bail. Multiple gunshots were fired, but no one was injured, police said at the time.

Staff Reporter Dennis Hoey contributed to this story

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