1 dead, 3 wounded in shooting outside St. Paul funeral home

A man was killed and three others wounded in gunfire outside a homicide victim's funeral Monday in St. Paul in what police are calling a gang-related shooting.

"Multiple shooters" were responsible for the gunfire at about 11:20 a.m. on the West Side in the 400 block of Humboldt Avenue near Bradshaw Funeral Homes' Simple Traditions location, said police spokesman Steve Linders.

The suspects also were there to attend the funeral and have yet to be captured, Linders said.

The shooting came during visitation and about 40 minutes before services were scheduled to begin for 26-year-old Casanova Carter, of St. Paul, who was shot three weeks ago. There also have been no arrests in connection with Carter's death.

Linders did not get into specifics about what prompted the shooting but did say, "We believe this was gang-related."

"For some reason, a shooting broke out. Now we have a person in the hospital fighting for his life and two other people injured," Linders said. "It's tragedy upon tragedy. In both of these cases, we need people to call with information."

Police had more squad cars in the area near the funeral "than we typically do" but kept a bit of a distance as "we tried to respect the family's wishes that we not be a visible presence," Linders said.

Along with the officers close by swarming the scene, Linders said police were diverted to the shooting from the downtown area, where they have been providing additional security for the federal trial of three fired Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

Police said their responding officers located four victims outside the funeral home: a man in his 30s struck in the neck; a man in his 20s grazed in the face; a man in his 20s shot in the abdomen, back and leg; and the 28-year-old man who suffered grave injuries. He was declared dead at Regions Hospital.

The other three were being treated at Regions, where the man shot in the abdomen was in critical condition. Police did not disclose the conditions of the other two.

Police investigators worked throughout the afternoon collecting physical evidence at the scene, pursuing witnesses and checking for any video surveillance.

There have been eight homicides in St. Paul so far this year, following a record of 38 in the city last year.

Tyrone Terrill, a longtime community activist in the city, said "it was gut-wrenching" when he first heard about the shooting.

"I was sad, and I was angry," Terrill said." There are multiple families impacted by this. It's very concerning that we continue to have this violence in the community."

Terrill said the city needs "a long-term investment [in children] from the earliest age. … No one is born with a pistol in their hands."

The scene appeared to be quiet hours after the shooting Monday.

Officers taped off street access to the funeral home between W. Winifred and Robie streets. Two police vehicles remained at the scene. The funeral home is near senior care homes and apartments in a mixed residential and business area and is across from a K-8 charter school.

DFL State Sen. Sandy Pappas, in a statement issued about six hours after the shooting in her district, said, "Words cannot adequately express the pain and suffering that these families and victims must be feeling as we lose yet another member of our community to senseless gun violence. … This is a saddening and tragic loss for our community, and I remain committed to fighting gun violence and getting guns off the streets of St. Paul."

On the night of Feb. 1, Carter, of St. Paul, was shot in the 700 block of Winslow Avenue. He died at the scene. Among his survivors are three children.

Carter's father, Rheuben Johnson, said Monday he was at the funeral home when the shots were fired, but otherwise, "I don't want to talk about that."

The funeral home did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The shooting is the latest to occur at a Twin Cities funeral or vigil, which can often become targets for gang violence. Last June, Dontevius Catchings was shot and killed outside Shiloh Temple in north Minneapolis while attending the funeral for Christopher Robert Jones Jr., — one of two men killed outside the Monarch nightclub in downtown Minneapolis on May 22 in a mass shooting that also left several wounded.

In 2019, two men were shot and wounded while attending a wake and services at Estes Funeral Home in north Minneapolis. The year before, a suspect opened fire on a group standing around a makeshift memorial for shooting victim Nathan Hampton at Minneapolis' North Commons Park.

Anyone with information about either shooting is urged by police to call them at 651-266-5650.

Star Tribune staff writers Libor Jany and Alex Chhith contributed to this report.