St. Paul Police Chief: ‘We’re very, very lucky’ after no injuries in shooting during car chase

A man with a violent criminal history shot through his windshield at police during a brief chase in St. Paul late Monday night, officials said.

The pursuit ended with the officer unscathed and the 26-year-old suspect in the Ramsey County jail on allegations that include attempted murder, assault, fleeing police in a motor vehicle, firearm possession by an ineligible person and possession of a stolen firearm.

“We are grateful that this person was brought into custody and that no one in our community, none of our officers and even [the suspect wasn’t injured],” said St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry during a Tuesday news conference. “But I would say we’re very, very lucky.”

Charges against the man are pending. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.

The suspect’s criminal history includes a drug-related first-degree assault conviction stemming from when he shot a man in the back in St. Paul in 2016. As a juvenile, he was convicted of a felony weapons offense in 2015 in St. Paul.

Police gave this account of Monday’s incident:

An officer attempted to stop a vehicle about 11 p.m. after the vehicle made several traffic violations near Central Avenue and Chatsworth Street, but the man drove off, Henry said.

A fellow officer saw the vehicle parking close to where the first stop was attempted near Ravoux Street. As the officer pulled up to investigate, the vehicle again took off. As the officer pursued the vehicle, the occupant began to shoot through the rear windshield of the vehicle at the officer, Henry said.

Police did not return fire. About a mile into the pursuit, the suspect crashed the vehicle into a parked car in the 800 block of Fuller Avenue and tried to flee on foot before officers were able to arrest him.

Police recovered a stolen AR-15-style rifle which was still loaded from the vehicle along with shell casings and armor-piercing ammunition. At the time of his arrest, police said the man was also in possession of suspected drugs.

St. Paul police are asking people who are aware of any victim of Monday’s shooting or if they have property that may have been struck by gunfire to call 651-291-1111.

Nicole Norfleet contributed to this report.