A 34-year-old Saint Paul man is facing a felony charge after allegedly firing a handgun into the air outside his apartment building on the 1500 block of Marion Street, then walking back inside as officers arrived. Deonte Cortez Childs, who holds a valid permit to carry, told investigators he fired what he described as a warning shot because he believed he spotted the person who had previously broken into his car.
According to charges detailed by MN Crime, Saint Paul police officers responded to the apartment building on August 24 after a report of a man firing a handgun into the air. A witness told police that Childs picked up the spent casing after firing the gun, and an apartment manager later identified him as the person who fired the weapon. Officers found Childs after he exited the building.
Police obtained a warrant to search Childs's apartment the same day. Inside, according to the charges, officers found a black handgun in a holster tucked under a pillow on the bed, along with a spent casing sitting on a desk.
What Childs Told Investigators
Childs said he fired the shot because he believed he saw the person who had previously broken into his car, per the charging documents. Notably, the complaint does not describe Childs as reporting that he was in fear of imminent death or great bodily harm from that person at the time he fired — a distinction that matters under Minnesota's self-defense standards.
Minnesota law generally requires people in public spaces to retreat from conflict when reasonably possible before resorting to defensive force, and that force must be justified by a genuine, reasonable perception of imminent death or great bodily harm. Firing a warning shot or displaying a firearm without such an imminent threat does not meet the legal bar for self-defense, according to Arechigo & Stokka. That “duty to retreat” standard was reinforced in August 2024, when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in *State v. Blevins* that the duty to retreat applies even when someone is threatened with a deadly weapon, and that escalating force in public rather than retreating is not protected under state self-defense law, as reported by MPR News.
Lawmakers tried to change that framework last year. A March 2025 effort in the Minnesota House to eliminate the state's duty-to-retreat requirement, House File 13, failed on a 67-65 vote — one vote short of the 68 needed for passage, according to Session Daily. Minnesota remains a strict duty-to-retreat state as a result.
Felony Charge and Court Timeline
Childs faces a felony charge of reckless discharge of a firearm within a municipality, which was filed in Ramsey County District Court on August 25. Minnesota Statute § 609.66, subdivision 1a, classifies that offense as a felony carrying up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, with the potential prison term expanding to five years if the discharge occurs within a designated school, park, or public housing zone, according to Gallagher Criminal Defense. Childs was scheduled to appear in Ramsey County court on August 26. Felony cases in Ramsey County are heard in the Second Judicial District at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown Saint Paul, and the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office operates the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in Maplewood.
Because Childs holds a permit to carry, his case also triggers a specific administrative process. Under Minnesota Statute § 624.714, subdivision 18a, prosecutors who file charges against a permit holder for a prohibiting offense must verify the permit and formally notify the issuing county sheriff of both the initial charges and the eventual court disposition, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. The Ramsey County Attorney's Office serves Ramsey County and would be responsible for that notification in this case.
What's at Stake for Childs's Gun Rights
A felony conviction carries long-term consequences beyond the immediate sentence. Under Minnesota Statute § 624.713, a felony conviction results in a long-term or lifetime prohibition against possessing firearms, and illegal possession by a prohibited person can carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, according to Arneson & Geffen, PLLC. Minnesota's broader weapons statutes also cover related offenses, including felon-in-possession violations under § 624.713, firearm restoration after a felony under § 609.165, and dangerous-weapons violations under § 609.66. Separately, carrying a pistol in public without a valid permit is a gross misdemeanor under § 624.714, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine for a first offense, escalating to a felony for repeat violations — a distinction that underscores the legal weight placed on maintaining valid permit status.
A North End Neighborhood Watching Gun Violence Trends
The 1500 block of Marion Street sits in Saint Paul's North End neighborhood, an area where local neighborhood analytics have flagged elevated risk metrics, with crime rates estimated at 44% above the national average. Still, the incident comes amid a broader decline in gun violence across the city. After Saint Paul created a dedicated Nonfatal Shooting Unit, city data released in May 2026 showed the clearance rate for nonfatal shooting cases rose to 71% in 2025, while total reports of shots fired and nonfatal shootings dropped by more than half statewide, per MPR News. Violent crime across the Twin Cities metro area declined overall in 2025, with homicides and gun violence incidents falling in both Saint Paul and Minneapolis as post-pandemic public safety strategies took hold, according to Axios Twin Cities.
