Charges: Man shot girlfriend in the head with children inside Rochester apartment
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A man is charged with attempted murder and a woman is gravely wounded after a shooting inside a Rochester apartment over the weekend.
According to the Olmsted County Attorney's Office, Phillip Turner, 34, of Rochester faces second-degree attempted murder and two assault charges in connection to the Saturday shooting.
On Sunday, police officers were dispatched to an apartment building in northwest Rochester on a welfare check for a woman. When they arrived, a child answered the door and said their mom was dead, the complaint said. There were two children in the apartment.
Officers located the woman on the floor of her bedroom, with blood around her head area. She was still alive. After arriving at St. Mary's Hospital, medical staff determined she suffered a single gunshot wound to her head.
Using information from the children and photo data, police were able to locate the suspect, identified by authorities as Turner, at his residence on the 3300 block of Whalers Lane Northwest. A pistol suspected in the shooting was found in a nearby snowbank, the complaint said.
Turner had recently become the victim's boyfriend and the two worked at the same pizza establishment.
An investigation determined officers discovered the victim 16 hours after Turner left the apartment, in which time the children were also alone. As of Tuesday, the victim's condition was "grave" and her prognosis "uncertain," according to the complaint.
If convicted, Turner could face up to 20 years on the attempted murder charge.
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Local Domestic Violence Resources
Women's Advocates
wadvocates.org
Crisis Line: (651) 227-8284
St. Paul & Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project
stpaulintervention.org
Crisis Line: (651) 645-2824
Minnesota Day One
dayoneservices.org
Crisis Line: 1-866-223-1111
Esperanza United
esperanzaunited.org
Bilingual crisis line: (651) 772-1611.
For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.
