ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul leaders are asking the community for help after a troubling stretch of violence.
In just eight weeks, there have been nine killings across the city. In the same stretch of time, officers with the St. Paul police have shot three people.
“That’s nine too many. On top of the ones that we already had at that point,” St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said. “None of us in this community, no one standing here wants these outcomes. We don’t want people shot in any way in our city.”
Despite a year-over-year drop in gun violence, this is a big cause for concern for police and anti-violence advocates.
“The city and the people in it care. We have the ability to do better and we can and will be better,” Henry said.
One of those murders happened just about a month ago on the city’s north end, essentially in the middle of a neighborhood intersection. Neighbors say they felt it was random at the time but are still concerned about a rise in crime throughout the entire city.