St. Paul police officers rushed to a shots-fired call just before midnight Thursday and found a 14-year-old boy who had been shot outside, more than once, according to police. The teen was taken to the hospital by St. Paul Fire Department medics, and investigators with the department's Non-Fatal Shooting Unit are now working the case.
Officers responded to the report around 11:55 p.m. Thursday in the 1100 block of Westminster Street in the Payne-Phalen area, according to the Pioneer Press, which reported that the boy was critically injured.
A Unit Built to Treat Nonfatal Shootings Like Homicides
Whatever the outcome of this case, it lands in the hands of a squad St. Paul created specifically for shootings where the victim survives. The Non-Fatal Shooting Unit launched in January 2024 and treats those cases as failed homicides, according to the same Pioneer Press reporting. The approach means investigators get homicide-level resources even when nobody dies.
That includes overtime funding that lets detectives respond after hours, much like a homicide investigator would, to process crime scenes in real time, the news organization reported. The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill in May that included $1 million in funding aimed at solving more nonfatal shootings statewide, per the same source.
Solve Rates Climbing as Shooting Totals Fall
The numbers behind the unit's track record are notable. St. Paul's solve rate for nonfatal shootings rose from 39% in 2023 to 71% in 2025, the Pioneer Press reported, while the total number of nonfatal shootings in the city dropped from 122 in 2023 to 73 last year.
Those gains have coincided with a historically quiet year for homicides. The Star Tribune reported that St. Paul had recorded just three homicides in 2026, all shootings, with a 100% clearance rate for those cases so far this year and throughout 2025. Police credited several factors for the drop, namely the nonfatal shooting unit's role in heading off retaliatory violence, according to the Star Tribune's reporting. That outlet also noted the model's influence has spread beyond St. Paul, helping inspire a similar unit in Minneapolis.
Part of a Pattern Involving St. Paul Teens
Thursday's shooting is not an isolated case involving a young teenager in St. Paul this year. On Sept. 1, two teens — a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl — were shot in the 300 block of Aurora Avenue in the Summit-University neighborhood around 2 a.m., according to twincities.com's earlier coverage. Both suffered gunshot wounds to their legs in that incident.
Investigators have not said whether Thursday's shooting is connected to any previous case. The Non-Fatal Shooting Unit's investigation remains active, and no further details on the boy's condition, a motive, or a recovered weapon were available as of Friday afternoon.
