1 Dead, 1 Injured In 2 Separate St. Paul Shooting Incidents
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – St. Paul police are investigating two separate shooting incidents that occurred late Monday night within 20 minutes of each other.
According to the St. Paul Police Department, the first shooting happened around 9:20 p.m. in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood.
A man was reportedly shot in the arm at Rose Avenue and Arcade Street. He suffered minor injuries.
The second shooting happened at 9:38 p.m. just four-and-a-half blocks away. St. Paul police said officers responded to a call of a shooting in the 700 block of Orange Avenue.
Upon arrival, police learned a man, later identified as 54-year-old Htoo Baw, had been shot outside the front of his house. The Baw's daughter was nearby and called 911.
Baw was taken to Regions Hospital, where he later died.
The victim's daughter told WCCO her family had immigrated to the U.S from Thailand in 2008. She said she was with Baw Monday night delivering meals to a family in need, something he did often in his retirement. She said she went inside their home ahead of Baw and heard a gun shot. When she went outside she found her father wounded and called 911.
Neighbors say his family recently moved to the neighborhood but kept to themselves.
One neighbor, Bernice Hartman, heard the gunshots and also called for help.
"I was watching TV, and I heard a boom," Hartman said. "It didn't sound like a firecracker, so I turned off my lights and looked outside and I didn't see anything, and I heard a young gal saying my dad has been shot."
St. Paul police said they are treating the shootings as two separate incidents, which means they are searching for two separate suspects.
Officers canvassed the neighborhood and asked anyone with information to come forward.
"This is an active investigation as we are sitting here right now," Sgt. Mike Ernster said. "A lot of information is being gathered; where everyone was, the relationship to everybody, motives, all of that is still coming out right now and investigators are talking to witnesses."
The suspect in the deadly shooting is described as a young man in his late teens or early twenties.
While police say the shootings are separate, the descriptions of the suspects are similar.
Police would not say if the shootings were targeted or random, or if the community is safe, only that they are investigating.
Anyone with any information on either shooting is asked to call the St. Paul Police Department Homicide Unit at 651-266-5650.
