A district judge dismissed the charge against the third man accused in an Oct, 6, 2024, Minot hotel shooting in the midst of trial on Dec. 31, 2025.

Shaquille Means, 32, faced a Class C felony count of reckless endangerment in North Central District Court. Means’ attorney Kyle Craig said he made a motion to dismiss the charge after the state rested its case against his client, arguing the state had failed to prove Means wasn’t acting in self defense. Judge Gary Lee agreed with Craig and dismissed the charge despite requests from assistant Ward County prosecutors for the case to be sent to the jury.

“While we are grateful that justice prevailed for Shaquille, his story is a stark reminder of how the criminal justice system does not work for you. It does not work for the taxpayers that fund it. The men who tried to kill Shaquille only got two years in prison, but not for trying to kill Shaquille. They received that sentence for damaging the hotel and ‘endangering the other guests.’ Shaquille’s life literally meant nothing to Ward County,” Craig said.

The two other men charged in connection with the incident, Chance James Braun and Deyan Luetzen, both entered guilty pleas to Class C felony counts of reckless endangerment-extreme indifference-dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of firearm-felon or violent misdemeanor. They were both sentenced to two years with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation with credit for time served.

According to court documents, investigators found more than 50 spent casings in the hotel hallway. In his statement, Craig said Braun and Luetzen fired 48 times to his client’s five, and stressed the two could not legally possess firearms due to felony convictions, while Means legally could.

“Ward County prosecutors reviewed this information and concluded they needed to charge Shaquille. To hear them tell it, Shaquille should’ve just let himself and others be shot or somehow outrun 48 bullets instead of defending himself. Shaquille was arrested, and spent 79 days in jail before he could finally afford to post the high bond that prosecutors argued for. While incarcerated, Shaquille lost a high paying job and struggled to find meaningful employment due to the pending charge against him,” Craig said.