Saint Paul police officers responded to reports of a shooting on the 400 block of West Maryland Avenue Friday night and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. A second man with a gunshot wound turned up separately at Regions Hospital, and investigators determined both men had been shot at the same location. Police say both victims are suffering from non-life-threatening injuries, and the shooting remains under investigation.
According to Pioneer Press, officers were called to the scene in St. Paul's North End neighborhood after the first man was located with a gunshot wound. Police statements shared on social media indicate officers were dispatched to the 400 block of West Maryland Avenue at 9:19 p.m. Friday following 911 calls reporting shots fired, arriving to find the wounded man already on scene. The second man made his way to Regions Hospital independently, and investigators later connected his injuries to the same shooting scene.
Both men were taken to or arrived at Regions Hospital, which serves as the primary Level I trauma center for Ramsey County and the East Metro region, according to Hoodline. It remains unclear whether the two men knew each other, whether gunfire was exchanged between them, or whether an unidentified third party was involved. It's also unknown whether investigators have recovered shell casings or surveillance footage from nearby businesses along the corridor.
A Block With a Violent History
The 400 block of Maryland Avenue West isn't unfamiliar with gun violence. The same block was the site of a fatal shooting on March 31, 2022, when gunfire outside a convenience store left one man dead and another critically injured, per the City of Saint Paul. And in October 2025, officers responded just blocks away to the 400 block of Front Avenue in the neighboring South of Maryland area, where two men died after exchanging gunfire, as reported by CBS News.
The pattern of a shooting victim independently arriving at a hospital has also shown up recently in the same general area. In a case Hoodline covered a few weeks ago, a woman with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound was dropped off at a hospital, with officers tracing that shooting scene back to Jackson Street near Maryland Avenue. No arrests were reported in that case.
Non-Fatal Shootings Down Citywide, But Still a Priority
Saint Paul Police Department statistics show 38 people had been injured by gunfire citywide as of early August 2026, a continued decline from 55 during the same period in 2025, 68 in 2023, and 108 in 2022. Even as those numbers trend downward, non-fatal shootings remain a major investigative priority for the department's specialized Non-Fatal Shooting Unit, which launched in January 2024 to apply homicide-level resources to these cases. The unit's case clearance rate climbed from 39% in 2023 to 68% in 2025, according to the city's 2026 adopted police budget.
The Friday-night shooting also lands in a North End neighborhood that has drawn scrutiny for other reasons this year. Just hours before officers were called to West Maryland Avenue, the St. Paul City Council approved a $350,000 civil rights settlement tied to a November 2020 incident near Rice Street and Maryland Avenue, in which police shot an unarmed, fleeing suspect who had been hiding in a dumpster — a case Hoodline detailed in its report on the $350K settlement payout.
Potential Legal Exposure Under State Law
If a suspect is identified and charged, Minnesota law lays out steep potential penalties for gun violence in a residential area. Under Minnesota Statute § 609.222, assault with a dangerous weapon such as a firearm is a felony carrying up to seven years in prison, rising to as much as 10 years if the assault causes substantial bodily harm. Separately, Minnesota Statute § 609.66 makes it a felony to recklessly discharge a firearm within a municipality, punishable by up to two years in prison — a penalty that can climb to five years if the shooting occurs in a public housing or school zone.
No arrests have been announced in connection with Friday's shooting, and police have not released the identities of either victim. The investigation into what happened on West Maryland Avenue continues.
