Terry Brown, Charged In Deadly St. Paul Bar Shootings, Was Barred From Possessing A Gun, Documents Show
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Documents shed more light on one of the two men who have been charged in last weekend's deadly bar shooting in St. Paul.
Prosecutors have charged 33-year-old Terry Brown with murder for allegedly shooting and killing 27-year-old Marquisha Wiley early Sunday morning at the Seventh Street Truck Park bar in downtown St. Paul, near Xcel Energy Center. He's also charged with several counts of attempted murder.
Fifteen people were shot in the melee.
Court records show Brown should never have had a gun. He was convicted in 2018 of violating a no-contact order. That is a felony, and he is still barred from possessing a weapon.
Brown was also convicted of two misdemeanors after that felony conviction.
Later in 2018, he was convicted of giving a false name to officers during a traffic stop. And in September 2020, he was convicted of DWI.
Brown made his first court appearance Monday, and his next day in court is scheduled for Nov. 9.
Devondre Phillips, 29, also faces attempted murder charges. He will make his first court appearance Wednesday morning. Police have not released photos of either suspect as the investigation into the mass shooting continues.
On Monday, St. Paul's police chief Todd Axtell shared some strong words about the Sunday morning mass shooting, and what needs to happen next.
"We need to do better, all of us need to do better, community, police, prosecutor and the bench to hold people unapologetically to account for the continued violence in our city," he said. "Even if we would have had 200 officers throughout our city on patrol that night, this event most likely would have happened anyway."
Still, he says he believes if he was able to fill all 620 positions, cases could be more thoroughly worked.
"I'm not allowed with the current staffing levels that we have to consistently get our officers the time off that they need," Axtell said. "And when we have tired officers, that's when mistakes happen."
Axtell says there needs to be a more open dialogue about the root problems, and why there are so many repeat offender crimes. He says people should be able to have those blunt conversations without worrying about offending each other.
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch the extended interview with Axtell below.