Rochester Man Convicted of Attempted Murder For Summer Shooting

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has been convicted of attempted murder and other charges stemming from a shooting outside a local convenience store last summer.

An Olmsted County jury returned the verdicts Thursday afternoon, finding 39-year-old Lionel Bailey guilty of first and second-degree attempted murder, drive-by shooting, second-degree assault, and illegal firearm possession charges. After the reading of the verdict, the judge presiding over the trial ordered him to be held without bail until his sentencing on April 20.

Bailey was accused of firing as many as 7 shots in the direction of a man outside the Holiday Store at the intersection of North Broadway and 7th Street Northwest in the early morning hours of June 21, 2022. The man was not hit, but one of the bullets entered a nearby apartment and became lodged in the trim around a closet.

The criminal complaint says a man with Bailey told investigators that he got out of his car and went into the Holiday Store. While he was inside the business, he heard the sound of gunfire outside and when he returned to the vehicle, he found Bailey sitting in the passenger seat with a pistol in his lap. The man then drove away.

Rochester Police were able to locate the driver of the car by tracing his California license plate number. Bailey was not with him when police officers went to his northeast Rochester residence, but investigators were able to access GPS data from Bailey's phone and he was located and arrested in Winona.