Standoff on St. Paul's east side now connected to deadly shooting on same block, police say
ST. PAUL, Minn. – An armed standoff on St. Paul's east side is now connected to a murder investigation.
According to a criminal complaint filed Thursday, officers were called to the 1100 block of White Bear Avenue just after midnight Wednesday on reports of a man who had broke into a home and was holding residents hostage.
The SWAT team soon arrived at the scene, and police used a P.A. system to call for residents to get out. Five people fled the home, and they told police more were inside.
MORE: Standoff ends in arrest after armed man breaks into St. Paul home with family inside
One of the original 911 callers was a man who lived at the home and had escaped to a nearby gas station after the gunman broke in. He told officers his son woke him up to say someone was trying to enter their side door. The man then heard gunfire before the gunman kicked in the door.
Another resident of the home saw the gunman in the doorway and told him to leave, before he fled to a basement, moved a treadmill to block the door, hid in a bathroom and called 911. He told police the gunman tried to get into the bathroom, and told him, "I only have one round left in my gun, and I am going to kill you."
Police spoke with a woman in the neighborhood who said the suspect is her son, 27-year-old Tevon Antolwon King. She said King was in the midst of a mental health crisis that was exacerbated by drug use.
Officers eventually entered the home at about 3 a.m. They noticed a bullet hole in the side door and a corresponding one in an interior wall. They soon found King near an empty 9mm handgun in the basement and arrested him. Two people were also still inside the home.
Later that morning, police were called to another residence on the block where they found a man dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Police call this death a homicide, and believe it's connected to King. This is the city's 17th homicide of the year. The man was identified on Friday as 36-year-old James Harmon of St. Paul.
King was charged with second-degree murder on Friday. The criminal complaint says Harmon was found in his basement, wrapped in covers with signs of blood on the sheets.
Harmon's roommate said she heard gunshots outside her home in the middle of the night.
King's coworker said he drank and smoked weed with him the day before, and decided to take him to King's mother's house after he became uncomfortable. Documents say the coworker heard a "pop, pop, pop" and saw King carrying a black handgun.
According to the complaint, King said he did not know whose house he slept in that night, and recalled waking up on a trampoline and hearing a dog howling. He said he did not know anything about the home Harmon was found dead in, but described the inside layout of the home. King added he did not know Harmon, or Harmon's roommate.
King has also been charged with two counts of first-degree burglary.
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If you or someone you know needs help, call 988. There you'll reach a trained crisis counselor that can help. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, also has resources online.
