Charges: Teen gravely wounds friend in New Hope home with soon-to-be-banned style of gun

A 17-year-old boy gravely wounded his friend in a New Hope home with gunshot to the eye from a “ghost gun” with a trigger that was altered to fire more rapidly, according to charges.

Anthony Freebird Wirtjes was charged Monday by juvenile petition with first-degree assault and illegal possession of a machine gun in connection with the shooting on Sept. 18 in his home in the 6000 block of N. Quebec Avenue.

Prosecutors have indicated they are reserving the right to charge Wirtjes as an adult, meaning a more severe sentence should he be convicted. In the meantime, he remains held without bail in the juvenile detention center ahead of an Oct. 3 hearing.

The victim, a 17-year-old boy, was shot in the eye and was last reported to be in the hospital on life support and with no brainwave activity, according to the charging document. Officials have not released his identity.

A police firearms examiner tested the 9-millimeter firearm, called a ghost gun because it lacks a serial number and is assembled with parts bought together in a kit or in separate transactions, according to the charges. The examiner found that firearm has a “binary trigger,” meaning it fires a round when the trigger is squeezed and also when it’s released, effectively doubling the rate of fire.

In June, Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation addressing gun violence that included a ban on binary triggers. It takes effect on Jan. 1.

The felon who killed three Burnsville first responders and wounded another in February had a large arsenal in his home — allegedly purchased by his girlfriend as a straw buyer — that included a .300-caliber semiautomatic firearm equipped with a binary trigger.

According to the juvenile petition:

Wirtjes called 911 shortly before 1:30 p.m., and said his friend shot himself and was on the couch unconscious and not breathing.

Police arrived to find the victim had been shot in the eye. Officers checked and found no pulse. They found the gun with an extended magazine at the feet of the body. Wirtjes told them the gun had a binary trigger.

Wirtjes said he was asleep in the living room and awoke upon hearing a gunshot. He then saw his friend down on the couch.

A witness in the home said Wirtjes and his friend were talking and laughing. The witness walked to the kitchen door and heard a shot.

A second witness reported hearing Wirtjes and the friend joking around while Wirtjes was in the bed and the victim “leaning over him,” the charging document read. As the witness looked at his phone, he heard a gunshot and saw Wirtjes holding his friend and crying, “No, no, no!” the petition continued.

This witness also told police that Wirtjes and his friend “were playing and taking pictures and videos with the firearm throughout the night,” the petition read.

Staff writer Stephen Montemayor contributed to this report.