A man who called 911 to report he’d been shot while driving down University Avenue in Saint Paul died early Thursday morning at Regions Hospital.
He made the call for help just before 10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, from the southbound lanes of the intersection of University and Snelling avenues. Officers arrived a short time later and found the victim inside his Toyota Prius, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his chest.
The officers began rendering aid and called for St. Paul Fire medics, who rushed the man to Regions Hospital. He died about two hours later.
Patrol officers worked to protect the crime scene by cordoning off portions of the southbound lanes from Sherburne Avenue on the north to a bus shelter just south of University, where the victim’s car came to rest. Members of the police department’s homicide, forensic services and video management units also arrived and began collecting physical evidence, looking for video cameras that may have recorded the shooting and interviewing witnesses in an attempt to determine what led to the shooting and who is responsible.
Preliminary information indicates the victim may have been shot by someone in another vehicle. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call 651-266-5650.
The Ramsey County medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to positively identify the victim and determine an exact cause of death. This information, along with any updates on the case, will be released after family notifications are complete on the Saint Paul Police Department Twitter account, @sppdmn.
This is the 32nd homicide of the year in Saint Paul.