BCA identifies 2 St. Paul officers who fatally shot murder suspect
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Authorities have identified the two St. Paul officers who fatally shot a man on Saturday who was wanted in connection to the death of his pregnant ex-wife.
Mychel Stowers, 36, was shot by police near Watson Avenue and Bay Street. He had been on parole since March after spending more than a decade in prison for killing a man in 2008, and was charged in late October with two counts of second-degree murder in Damara Stowers' death. She was eight to nine weeks pregnant at the time, charging documents said.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, officers received a tip that Stowers was at a business on West Seventh Street, and saw him leave the area on a bicycle. Squad cars converged, and before officers could confirm his identity, Stowers pointed a gun at officers, the BCA said.
St. Paul officers Eric Jaworski and Matthew Foy fired their weapons. Both have 10 years of law enforcement experience.
Stowers was taken to the hospital, where he died, authorities say.
The incident was captured on body camera video, and the BCA found a handgun near where Stowers was shot. No officers were injured during the shooting.
Damara Stowers was shot on Oct. 19 inside her apartment on Sycamore Street East. Mychel Stowers was living in a halfway home and had been granted a pass to be at the apartment complex that night, court documents said. Witnesses said a man ran south after the gunshots were fired, and later, a man called police saying he had been shot and his car had been stolen.
The man was shot on Acker Street, roughly two blocks from the apartment complex. Documents say Mychel Stowers called a Ramsey County Sheriff's Office employee to say that he had just shot someone on Acker Street and he wanted to turn himself in. However, Mychel Stowers did not turn himself in.
In addition to the two second-degree murder charges, Mychel Stowers also faced two counts of carjacking and two counts of assault. Damara Stowers' death was the city's 23rd homicide of the year.
Domestic Violence Resources: For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.
