One killed in shooting at festival in St. Paul's Como Regional Park
Updated July 2, 2:05 p.m. | Posted July 1, 7:30 p.m.
One man was killed in a shooting at a festival Sunday afternoon at Como Regional Park in St. Paul.
Police identified the man Monday as Jacky G. Vue, 19, of St. Paul.
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The St. Paul Police Department reported that the shooting happened at about 4:30 p.m. at the 38th annual Hmong International Freedom Festival, being held at the park's McMurray Fields near the Como Park pool.
Vue died at Regions Hospital.
Police on Monday said a 27-year old St. Paul man and a 28-year old man from La Crosse, Wis., had been arrested in connection with the shooting.
It was the city's seventh homicide this year.
At a late-night news conference, St. Paul police spokesperson Steve Linders said on- and off-duty officers at the festival responded to the scene. He said about 39,000 people attended the festival.
"It's really unfortunate that one person or a small group of people could ruin such a great event," he said. "Officers dealt with a very chaotic scene. They secured the area, and obviously because there were so many people there, there were a lot of witnesses."
"For nearly four decades this event has been taking place in our city and it's been a great event," Linders said. "But something like this, I'm not aware of it ever happening before. Like I say, there's families out there, there's children, there's elderly, there's just people out there, who go out for a good time to celebrate a culture, and to celebrate what makes St. Paul great, which is its diversity — and then to have this happen is disappointing."
The organizers of the festival, United Hmong Family Inc., posted a statement on Facebook on Sunday evening:
"There was an incident that occurred this afternoon. Please rest assure that we are working closely with the Saint Paul Police Department at this time. We do not believe there is a threat and the area is secured at this time."