St. Paul's black leaders called on the public to help solve a recent homicide and combat gun violence in the city before more people are hurt.
Tuesday's plea by the African-American Leadership Council, the St. Paul NAACP and the St. Paul Black Ministerial Alliance comes on the heels of an unsolved homicide and recent shootings, including one that wounded the son of prominent activist John Thompson.
"Our plea, our ask today is to our community. … We're asking you to turn yourself in," said Tyrone Terrill, president of the African-American Leadership Council. "The most important thing for our community is to allow healing, to allow peace and to allow an opportunity to deal with this level of violence."
Since the start of the year, 98 people have been shot in St. Paul; 73 percent of the victims were black, according to St. Paul police. Of 10 homicides in the city this year, eight were the result of gunfire, said police spokesman Steve Linders.
Devon L. Goode, 21, of St. Paul, was fatally shot Aug. 12 while playing dice on a St. Paul street. Malik D. Turner, 19, of St. Paul, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly killing Goode in order to rob him of $332.
On Aug. 16, Lil R. Molin, 26, of St. Paul, was fatally shot on the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue E. near the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). No arrests have been made in the case.
On Saturday, two women and a man were injured by gunfire outside of Willard's Liquors. No arrests have been made in that case.
"Officers attempted to speak to people there, but nobody seemed to want to cooperate," Linders said of Saturday's shooting. "We need people with information to come forward."
