(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — A woman was killed and 14 other people were wounded early Sunday when at least three patrons pulled guns and opened fire at a popular bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, police said.
The mass shooting erupted inside the Seventh Street Truck Park bar in downtown St. Paul around 12:15 a.m., prompting a flood of 911 calls, according to authorities.
Steve Linders, a St. Paul Police Department spokesperson, said that when police officers arrived they found a “chaotic scene” with wounded people inside and outside the tavern.
“There were gunshot wound victims lying in the street outside the bar,” Linders said at a news conference early Sunday. “There were gunshot wound victims lying on the sidewalk outside the bar. There were gunshot wound victims lying on the floor inside the bar.”
St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell said one of the victims, a woman in her 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were withholding her name pending an autopsy and notification of her relatives.
“My heart breaks for the woman who was killed, her loved ones and everyone else who was in that bar this morning,” Axtell said. “In an instant, they found themselves caught in a hellish situation. I want them to know that we have the best investigators in the country, and we won’t stop until we find the people responsible for this madness. We will do our part to hold them accountable.”
Three men wounded in the incident were taken into custody at local hospitals. Police identified the suspects as Terry Lorenzo Brown, Jr., 33, Devondre Trevon Phillips, 29, and Jeffrey Orlando Hoffman, 32. Charges have yet to be determined, but Axtell said the suspects will be booked into the Ramsey County jail as soon as they are discharged from the hospital.
“I hope these arrests bring a modicum of peace to all who’ve been affected by this morning’s tragedy,” Axtell said.
He said the investigation remained active and did not rule out the possibility of more arrests. A possible motive was not disclosed.
Investigators were still conducting interviews with witnesses and collecting evidence Sunday afternoon inside and outside the bar, which is about a block from the city’s Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild National Hockey League team.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said in a post on Twitter that the shooting has left his community “devastated.”
The fatal shooting marked the 32nd homicide in St. Paul this year, according to the police department’s crime statistics. In 2020, there were a total of 34 homicides in St. Paul, a 13.3% increase over 2019.
“As our St. Paul officers work to bring those responsible for these senseless acts into custody, our work to build more proactive safety strategies is more urgent than ever,” Carter said. “We will never accept violence in our community.”
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
