A man and a 4-year-old boy were shot as someone opened fire on their SUV, which then crashed and overturned in front of a St. Paul apartment complex Sunday night.
St. Paul police said officers were called to the 400 block of Wabasha Street about 5:15 p.m. for several reports of gunfire. When they arrived, they found a Jeep on its roof in a parking lot on the west side of Wabasha.
Inside the vehicle, officers found an unconscious man with a gunshot wound to the head and the child with a gunshot wound to his foot. The boy was conscious and alert, police said. Both were taken to Regions Hospital where the man remained in grave condition Sunday night. The boy's injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The Jeep was still flipped on its roof late Sunday night. The blinker continued to flash and a cellphone inside rang occasionally.
Residents living across the street said they were watching a movie when they heard multiple gunshots and then saw several people running through their yard.
The apartment building is filled with "great residents" and is well managed, said Anthony Teehan.
"I've lived here for six years. I've never experienced anything like this," he said. "This place is calm," he said, adding the street itself is busy.
The shooting comes during what has been a violent year for St. Paul. Twenty-three people have been killed in the city so far this year, just one short of the city's deadliest year of the past decade — 24 for all of 2017. Over the past several weeks, the city has experienced a wave of bloodshed, with nine homicides in September alone.
Sunday night's victims were the 123rd and 124th victims of gunfire in St. Paul this year, said police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster. "These shootings affect everyone," he said. "In this case the shooting affected the most innocent among us — a small child."
Mara Klecker • 612-673-4440 Erin Adler • 612-673-1781
