A man died of a gunshot wound after a crash involving two cars in St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, with one of the vehicles striking a tree on the 900 block of Mounds Boulevard. Officers were called to the scene around 7 a.m., and the man was pronounced dead there, according to police.
St. Paul police said officers responded to the 900 block of Mounds Boulevard around 7 a.m. following reports that two cars had collided, with one of them hitting a tree, according to kstp.com. The man found inside the car that struck the tree had apparent gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, per the same report. Just before the crash, 911 callers reported hearing gunshots in the area, raising questions about what unfolded on the residential stretch moments before the collision. CBS News Minnesota also reported that St. Paul police provided an update on the death investigation in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, confirming the man died of a gunshot wound following the crash.
No Arrests, No Identification Yet
As of the kstp.com report, no arrests had been made and the victim had not been identified. Police have not said whether the gunfire caused the crash or how the two incidents are connected, and those details remain unresolved. Investigators asked anyone with information about the shooting to call the homicide department at (651)-266-5650.
A Rising Homicide Count
The death marks St. Paul's 16th homicide of the year, the outlet reported, compared with 11 homicides recorded at the same point the previous year. That tally reflects the station's own count rather than a formal citywide report, but it underscores a city that has logged more violent deaths this year than it had by this point in 2025.
The Dayton's Bluff area has seen gun violence before. Just under two weeks earlier, on Oct. 24, an 18-year-old Mahtomedi man named Keonte O. Williams died after officers responded to a report of multiple shots fired at a residence in the 700 block of East Sixth Street around 6:45 p.m., according to twincities.com. In that case, too, police had not announced an arrest as of Monday afternoon, Oct. 26, and said they were still investigating the circumstances of the shooting, the outlet noted.
The neighborhood's history with sudden violence along Mounds Boulevard stretches back further. A 2021 news release from the City of St. Paul described a separate deadly shooting near Seventh Street East and Mounds Boulevard, investigated at the time as a possible road rage incident, according to the City of St. Paul. No connection between that earlier case and this week's death has been established.
For now, the identity of the man found in the car remains unknown, and police have not said whether anyone has been detained in connection with the shooting. Anyone with information is urged to contact the homicide department.
