PORTLAND — A man has been found guilty of murder for a shooting on St. John Street last year.

Abdirahman Mahmoud, 38, was arrested and charged with intentional or knowing murder after he shot 30-year-old Raoul Tshiyuka outside of a bar just after 1 a.m. on March 2, 2024.

Mahmoud pleaded not guilty in Cumberland County Superior Court last spring. His attorney said the shooting was an act of self-defense because his client feared Tshiyuka was about to kill or seriously harm him.

The jury deliberated for more than five hours on Friday before delivering the verdict, which was met with loud sighs of relief from Tshiyuka’s family and a sharp gasp from Mahmoud’s.

Before reaching their decision, the jury asked to rewatch a video of the fatal shooting, captured almost in its entirety by a nearby business’s surveillance camera. Jurors had already seen the video several times during the trial.

Some of the action on camera is partially blocked by Mahmoud’s black SUV. That includes the moment when, according to Mahmoud’s lawyer, Tshiyuka charged at Mahmoud after he stepped out of the car, and when prosecutors said Mahmoud stomped on Tshiyuka after shooting him.

The video has no sound. Some jurors kneeled in front of the courtroom’s large TV screen Friday afternoon, the lights dimmed, to watch the shooting in slow motion. Jurors watched in silence as Tshiyuka fell behind the SUV and Mahmoud drove off, leaving him lying on the side of the road.

Mahmoud’s attorney, Luke Rioux, said he was shocked by the verdict and that his client is considering next steps, including whether to appeal.

A sentencing date has not been set. Mahmoud could face 25 years to life in prison. The jury declined to find Mahmoud guilty of manslaughter, which could have meant less time in prison.

In closing arguments, Rioux said Tshiyuka had been trying to beckon Mahmoud out of his parked car so the men could fight over Mahmoud’s bar tab from a previous outing. Tshiyuka believed Mahmoud had left him with the bill.

Mahmoud refused to engage, Rioux said, and had shown Tshiyuka his gun to deter him.

Tshiyuka wasn’t dissuaded — a friend testified that he could hear Tshiyuka saying he had a gun, too. Prosecutors have said Tshiyuka was not armed.

“Abdi had every right to have his gun with him that night, and to have it with him when he stepped out of the car,” Rioux said in closing arguments.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue questioned on Friday whether Mahmoud was actually afraid of Tshiyuka, saying Mahmoud always “knew he had the bigger stick” — a 9 mm Glock pistol in his glovebox. She said Mahmoud could have driven away before things escalated.

“This was not protection, this was not a person in fear,” Bogue said. “This was an execution.”

More than three hours into their deliberation, the jury asked Superior Court Justice John O’Neil to clarify Mahmoud’s “duty to retreat” under Maine’s self-defense law. Using deadly force against another person is not justifiable, O’Neil said, “if they can, with complete safety, retreat from the encounter.”

Mahmoud and Tshiyuka did not know each other well, friends testified, but the men ran in some of the same social circles.

Mahmoud had just arrived at the New Buja Belle bar with a mutual friend of Tshiyuka’s after a night at the Oxford Casino, where Mahmoud had won $4,000. They were parked outside when Tshiyuka approached and asked their friend for a cigarette.

Mahmoud was confused when Tshiyuka began taunting him, Rioux said.

At one point in the surveillance video, Tshiyuka can be seen walking to Mahmoud’s side of the car and opening the driver’s door. This is when Rioux said his client showed Tshiyuka the gun, to deter him — but Tshiyuka wasn’t bothered.

At some point, the video shows Tshiyuka’s arm reaching through Mahmoud’s open window. Rioux said Tshiyuka punched his client.

Their mutual friend had already pulled Tshiyuka back when Mahmoud began to step out of the car, the video show. Tshiyuka advanced and Mahmoud shot him.

Bogue said the video shows Mahmoud stomping on Tshiyuka before driving away. Rioux said his client was stepping over Tshiyuka, who had fallen at Mahmoud’s feet after lunging at him.

Tshiyuka was just about to turn 31 when he was shot. His friends and family held a vigil for him last year at Kennedy Park, where Tshiyuka grew up. They remembered him as a protective older brother and passionate for his community.

Rioux said Mahmoud is close to his friends and family, as well, and that he owns a successful transportation business. Mahmoud was supposed to visit his son in Minnesota before the shooting, a friend testified in court.