Three young men were charged Thursday on accusations that they were among several people who participated in the ambush of a Fridley High School varsity basketball player with a tire iron and punches during a game this week at Robbinsdale Cooper High School.

Charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree assault and second-degree riot were Ayub Mohamed Ali, 19, of Circle Pines; and 18-year-olds from Brooklyn Park, Yahya Abdul Khanyare and Dursa Muktar Mohamed, who also was charged with fleeing police.

All three remain jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail ahead of court appearances Friday. Court records do not list legal counsel for them.

Two juveniles also were among the five arrested Tuesday night in New Hope. Police Chief Tim Hoyt said the younger suspects were released to their parents pending charges.

The attack occurred shortly after the game began between the Fridley Tigers and host Hawks. The game was postponed.

No one in law enforcement has offered any insight about a motive for the assault.

"This was not random," Hoyt said. "We know why it happened," but the chief declined to elaborate.

None of the parties involved were Cooper High students or enrollees in the Robbinsdale Area Schools, according to a letter sent to Cooper families by the district.

School resource officers on site took immediate action, and coaches moved student athletes to safety, the letter read. The gym was placed on lockdown, and spectators remained inside until it was lifted, the letter continued.

According to the charges against the three:

Police arrived at the high school at 8230 47th Av. N. in New Hope, where the basketball player was seriously injured by a blow to the top of the head with a tire iron and punches. One perpetrator attempted to stab him with a knife.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where six stitches were needed to close his head wound. Officials have yet to release his identity.

School video captured five or six males arriving at the school in a car before the game. Including Ali, they spent several minutes outside, then in the lobby "talking and conspiring together," the criminal complaint read.

They went into the school, avoiding the ticket entry area, and walked to Fridley's bench. Khanyare ran toward the victim and struck him with the tire iron.

"The victim was totally unaware the attack was about the happen," the complaint continued.

Several others with Khanyare joined in the assault, "attempting to strike and hit the victim with fists and other weapons," the charges noted. Ali and other accomplices stood near the exit, appearing to act as lookouts.

The five suspects got back in the car, and sped from the school with Mohamed behind the wheel. While fleeing from pursuing police, the car crashed on a nearby entry ramp, and everyone in the vehicle was arrested.