2 men charged after driver shot in southern Minnesota is left a 'permanent paraplegic'

A mid-afternoon drive-by shooting in a small southern Minnesota city seriously wounded a driver whose car went out of control and slammed into a downtown building, authorities said.

The incident occurred Tuesday in Janesville, about 12 miles east of Mankato, and led to the capture of two men who had driven off soon afterward, police said.

The wounded driver was taken by air ambulance to a Rochester hospital and was reported by police to be in stable condition as of late Wednesday morning.

Charged late Wednesday afternoon with attempted first-degree murder and related felony counts were William C.T. Peavy, 31, of Waseca, Minn., and Devonte B. Phillips, 26, whose city of residence listed as unknown on the criminal complaint.

The charges said Phillips unleashed the volley of gunfire while Peavy drove. The charges did not reveal a motive for the gunfire.

Police Chief David Ulmen said the man is in his 20s, and his department has yet to determine his city of residence. The chief declined to disclose the man's name.

The charges said a bullet was lodged in his spine and has left him "a permanent paraplegic."

Lifelong Janesville resident Jacob Witt, 36, saw the immediate aftermath of the shooting and said he can't recall a crime like this ever happening in the city of about 2,200.

Witt said he heard what he thinks was fully automatic gunfire. "There was like 28 bullet holes in the car," he said.

He said the wounded driver's car crashed into a building next to the post office. He said he saw the man crawl out of the car, and he appeared to be unable to move from the waist down. A dog also in the car was not shot, Witt said.

According to police:

Numerous 911 callers reported hearing gunfire on N. Main Street near 1st Street. Witnesses said the shots came from a vehicle that fled east on County Road 14.

Police and sheriff's deputies caught up with the suspects' vehicle heading toward Waseca and arrested them without incident. A handgun was recovered.

Law enforcement has yet to disclose whether the victim and the men now in jail knew each other previously. Charges against the jailed men have yet to be filed. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.