Police ID two men killed in St. Paul shootings
Authorities have released the names of the two men who died of gunshot wounds in two shootings Monday night and early Tuesday morning in St. Paul.
Dwight Raymond Tate, 24, and Romell Hill, 19, both of St. Paul, died in what police are calling a "very complex" string of shootings. A police officer, whose name will be released Wednesday, is recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg.
Police responded at about 11 p.m. Monday to a report of a fight and shots fired at an apartment complex at 1619 E. Maryland Ave. in St. Paul. The officers found a trail of blood at the scene.
Witnesses told them several people had fled in vehicles, including an SUV, said St. Paul Police Sgt. Paul Schnell.
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Police located the SUV after it had crashed a couple miles from the apartment. Inside the vehicle, police found Tate, who had been shot at the apartment complex, and several other people who sustained minor injuries from the crash. They were all taken to Regions Hospital, where Tate later died, Schnell said.
The second shooting happened a few hours later, after a witness told police she saw some men she believed were involved in the earlier incident show up at the apartment complex.
Police arrived at the scene and saw Hill and another suspect emerge from an apartment window, authorities said.
Police said one of the men got away, but three officers caught up to Hill, who resisted arrest. A violent struggle ensued, and Hill grabbed his gun and began firing it at the officers, according to police.
During an exchange of gunfire, Hill was killed and one of the officers was shot in the leg, Schnell said.
Police believe the two shootings were related, but both incidents remain under investigation, Schnell said. He said police know little about the fight other than it involved a group of women at first, before several men became involved.
"There's a whole lot that has to be sorted out here just to figure out how all this is connected," Schnell said.
The police officers involved have been placed on a three-day administrative leave while authorities continue to investigate.