Friends of 18-year-old shot in St. Paul park charged with riot
Two friends of 18-year-old Bobby Davion Collins said they were at a party in the St. Paul park when a melee of pepper spray and gunshots erupted, court documents released Tuesday said.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Prince Williams, 24, of Minneapolis and Rashawn Porter, 18, of St. Paul.
According to the criminal complaints, both men told police they were friends with Bobby Davion Collins, who died after being shot in the head.
The complaints say there was a large gathering of people in Indian Mounds Regional Park around 7 p.m. Sunday night.
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A woman told police she was there with her boyfriend, a member of the Forever After Money Gang. She said a group of men she knew as gang members approached her boyfriend, claiming he'd stolen their gang name.
An argument ensued, and she pepper-sprayed several of the gang members. Then, the complaints say, someone swung a tree branch at another person, and men began taking out guns and shooting.
Witnesses told police they heard as many as 30 gunshots and Williams told police he heard three to four different guns fired during the incident.
The complaints say another witness captured the fight on his mobile phone. It showed Williams, Porter, Collins and two other men confronting the woman's boyfriend.
The video didn't capture the shooting, but the witness told police he saw Williams shoot at another man who also was shooting.
The complaints do not say who shot Collins.
Porter told police that after the shooting he ran over to Collins, who'd been shot in the head and was on the sidewalk. Collins appeared to be trying to say something, he said, but could not communicate with Porter.
Another person was also shot in the leg during the shooting, and was treated at Regions Hospital and released.
The complaints say both Porter and Williams are gang members. Porter has been charged with committing a crime for the benefit of a gang, a felony charge, and with riot in the third degree. Williams has been charged with committing a crime for the benefit of a gang and first-degree riot, both felonies.
Both men will make initial court appearances Wednesday morning, according to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office.