Man, two teen daughters among dead in St. Paul shootings

One suspect is in jail and a second suspect is dead after a shooting early Friday in St. Paul's Payne-Phalen neighborhood killed a father and his two teenage daughters and critically injured a fourth person.

Two hours after the shooting, police using search dogs found a 19-year-old male suspect hiding in a nearby shed with an 18-month-old girl, just as authorities were about to issue an Amber Alert. That man, Jeffery Arkis Taylor, was booked into the Ramsey County jail on suspicion of three counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder and kidnapping. Charges against him are likely Monday, authorities said.

Later, police found the body of a man they called a second suspect nearby. They identified him as Jeffrey Jemaile Taylor, 20, half-brother of the jailed suspect and father of the toddler rescued from the shed. They did not say how he died.

The little girl was taken to Children's Hospital for evaluation and was expected to be OK. Friends and family on social media identified the three people killed about 1 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 1600 block of English Street as Wade McIntosh, 47, and his daughters Maria, 19, and Olivia, 17.

Police later confirmed those IDs, adding that Maria McIntosh and the deceased Jeffrey Jemaile Taylor were parents of the toddler.

The identity of the surviving shooting victim, a woman, was unclear. She remained in critical condition late Friday, police said.

Residents about four blocks away in the 1400 block of Clarence Street said they awoke a few hours after midnight Friday to the sounds of dogs barking, police yelling and car doors slamming.

About a half-dozen officers swarmed the yard behind a duplex, focusing their attention and flashlights on a small shed.

"They were yelling, 'Get out!' and, 'Let go of the baby!' " said Kevin Lee, who lives in the duplex.

Lee said a man stepped out of the shed with both hands in the air after police yelled the commands about three times.

The commotion also awoke Jesse Foster and his mother, Kimberly Mattix, who live in a different duplex nearby.

"[The suspect] kept saying, 'I don't have anything on me, sir,' " Foster recalled. "[Police] grabbed the baby and carried her or him out."

Residents said the area is generally quiet and safe, but that Friday's shooting left them shaken.

"It's very scary," said Terry Yang, who lives in the duplex unit closest to the shed and witnessed part of the arrest. It was "kind of hard to go back to sleep."

Police interviewed witnesses and combed the crime scene for hours after the shooting, taping off blocks of the area. The second suspect, Jeffrey Jemaile Taylor, was found dead later in the morning by officers canvassing the area where the shooting occurred, police said.

Wade McIntosh's Facebook page provides a window into the life of a devoted and religious family man who doted upon his toddler granddaughter, Cheyenne, along with his daughters.

"Hanging with my gorgeous daughter Maria!" he wrote in one post. In another, he poses in a selfie with Cheyenne.

"So blessed to be Alive sharing life with my granddaughter," he said.

In another photo of his daughters, he describes Olivia as "my mini me. Little fire cracker, yet beautiful very creative out going … Has smile and laugh … that could light the world up!"

Maria, he writes, is "so full of Grace and Gentle beauty … a great mother and friend to her daughter Cheyenne. Every day I see them growing stronger in [their] identity with God!!!"

Paul Marzahn, a senior pastor with Crossroads Church, met Wade McIntosh when McIntosh was passing through Life Rebuilders, a Christian organization that provides adult foster housing and programs. At the time, McIntosh was struggling with a chemical addiction, Marzahn said.

He later traveled to North Dakota on a mission trip with McIntosh, where he said McIntosh helped build a handicap-accessible ramp off a woman's trailer home. "That was the kind of heart he had, to help others," Marzahn said.

The two last saw each other at the St. Paul St. Patrick's Day parade, where they shared a warm embrace, Marzahn said, and took a photo McIntosh posted to his Facebook page.

Roy Rea, a friend of McIntosh, said "everyone is in shock" about the killings. He called McIntosh "a respected member of the community" who would "take his shirt off his back for anyone."

St. Paul schools spokeswoman Toya Stewart Downey said Maria McIntosh transferred to the district from Roseville Area Schools in 11th grade, and graduated from AGAPE High School in 2016.

Olivia McIntosh went to Face to Face Academy in St. Paul, said the school's executive director, Darius Husain.

"Our hearts are heavy," he said in a prepared statement. "Every once and awhile, you run into a student who leaves a lasting impression on everyone they meet. Olivia was one of those rare individuals. Her spirit was strong, her enthusiasm contagious, and her loss will leave a void."

Police called about 1 a.m. found the three victims dead. A fourth was taken to Regions Hospital with critical injuries, said spokesman Steve Linders.

According to scanner audio from the MN Police clips website, the call came in as a report of three people shot. The suspect, an armed man, had left with a baby.

"One shot in the parking lot," an officer said upon arriving. "Have medics step it up. Head wound, leg wound."

"Gunshot wound to the head," another reported as cries could be heard in the background.

Just before 3 a.m., officers apprehended the suspect in the shed. "He's in custody, shed is clear," an officer can be heard saying.

"I need to know if they have the child," another responded.

"Got the baby, we've got the baby!" came the reply.

Medics were called to treat the toddler for hypothermia.

Mattix was watching TV and saw police lights out the window. She saw police make the arrest outside the shed.

"They brought the baby out first; the baby just had on regular clothes, and then they brought the guy out," Mattix said. "All of these deaths … it's taken a toll on all of us."

The deaths were the fifth, sixth and seventh homicides in St. Paul this year.

Jessie Bekker, a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune, contributed to this report.

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