Man in car shot, critically wounded in St. Paul's North Frogtown area

A man is hospitalized in critical condition after being shot several times during an apparent attempted robbery Thursday night in St. Paul.

Officers responded to the 300 block of Van Buren Avenue in North Frogtown around 7:45 p.m. on a report of a shooting, authorities said. They found the victim in his car several blocks away, near Rice Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest and arm. He was taken to Regions Hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster said the circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation and could share no further details about the case.

But according to emergency transmissions, officers relayed to dispatchers that two armed suspects in dark clothing approached the victim's car from either side.

"Sounds like an attempted robbery," the officer said via radio. "They were yelling for him to open the vehicle, and he refused, before they opened fire."

The two suspects reportedly fled the scene on foot in opposite directions. Responding officers deployed two police dogs to help search for the men, according to dispatch.

A second man who was a passenger in the victim's vehicle was uninjured, officers said.

The crime scene is less than three-quarters of a mile from the site of Tuesday's homicide outside a Summit-University convenience store. Larnell Brown, 42, died at Regions Hospital shortly after being shot near a troubled intersection along the Green Line.

The shooting continues a spate of gun violence in St. Paul that typically slows during the cold winter months. At least 10 people have been shot in the city this year, including two fatally.

Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648