St. Paul police making progress in solving recent fatal shootings

St. Paul police say they're making progress in their investigations of recent homicides on the city's east side.

On Oct. 14, 37-year-old Synika George James was shot to death in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood while attending a vigil for a 2012 murder victim. The next day Emmett Lee Wilson-Shaw III, 24, was killed on the Earl Street Bridge in what police say was a gang-related drive-by shooting. And on Sunday, Sarah Anne Wierstad — also 24 — was shot dead as she walked home from a bus stop a few blocks from Swede Hollow Park.

Residents packed a community meeting Wednesday night at the police department's district headquarters, expressing concern about their safety. The regular monthly community meetings don't normally draw big crowds, but more than 100 people showed up.

Laketa Buice lives on Minnehaha Avenue, about two blocks away from where Wierstad was killed. Buice said her 9-year-old son Xavier had never been afraid to play outside or walk to his bus stop, but after hearing about the killing, Buice said the boy went from being fearless to apprehensive.

"Independent Xavier was getting his clothes ready: 'I'm ready to go Mom, I'm out the door.' Now he's like, 'is somebody going to watch me? You guys going to walk me down the street? Are you going to be there when my bus gets there?' That's heartbreaking," she said.

Deb Petersen, who's lived in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood for 27 years, said the area has generally improved in the time she's been there. But Petersen said she was the victim of a burglary two years ago. That plus the recent killings have made her feel more vulnerable.

"My sons are grown. I'm the only one living there. Because of my break-ins, my neighbors keep telling I need to get a gun, and I don't want to go there," she said.

St. Paul police have made arrests in two of the three homicides. Prosecutors charged the alleged driver in the Earl Street Bridge shooting and are reviewing charges against another suspect. The man identified in court documents as the shooter has not been charged.

Meanwhile, a man and woman suspected of killing Wierstad are jailed in Ramsey County.

On Wednesday night, Mayor Chris Coleman sought to reassure residents that police are doing all they can to apprehend others involved. And he urged anyone with information about the shootings to come forward.

"Right know we got too many people who know what's happening on these things and they're not saying anything about it," he said. "And they think they're going to take the law into their own hands. And we have to send the message that that's not right."

In addition to the drive-by on the Earl Street Bridge, street gangs may also have been behind the shooting at the vigil on Oct. 14.

In Ramsey County, prosecutions for gang-related crimes are up sharply. In 2010 the county attorney's office charged just 14 people with crimes for the benefit of a gang. In all of last year, there were 58 such prosecutions. So far this year, 64 people have been charged under the anti-gang law.

At the meeting, police Chief Tom Smith said he couldn't talk about any of the active investigations, but that guns are at the root of the problem. He said it's far easier for violent criminals to obtain firearms today than it was when he joined the department 26 years ago. And Smith said he's seen the consequences firsthand.

"I've watched my friends lose their life, I've watched young people die in front of me, and people have tried to take my life ... by gun violence," he said.

Smith also said the work of his investigators is not finished.

"Within the next two days, 24 to 48 hours, you will hear more positive news about what we've been doing."

The recent shootings on the east side have come in what's turned out to be a particularly deadly month in the Twin Cities. In Minneapolis and St. Paul 10 people have died in homicides since the start of October.