A disconnected 911 call just after 11 p.m. sent Saint Paul police to a home on the 1000 block of Wakefield Avenue on October 18, where officers say they found a hidden handgun and arrested a 46-year-old man now facing felony charges. Michael John Law is charged in Ramsey County District Court with possessing a firearm or ammunition after a conviction and threats of violence, stemming from an argument that a caller told police lasted about an hour and included repeated threats to shoot him.
According to the criminal complaint as described by mncrime.com, dispatchers received the disconnected call at about 11:07 p.m. on October 18, in which one man could be heard asking another who he was going to shoot and telling him to come shoot him. Officers responding to the Wakefield Avenue address found the caller on the home's back deck, where he told them that another man inside the home had threatened to shoot him in the face.
The caller said he and Law had argued for about an hour, and that during the confrontation Law threatened to shoot him four or five times and followed him upstairs at one point. He told officers he had seen Law with a gun the day before, on October 17, but said Law never actually pointed one at him during the argument itself.
Handgun Recovered Under a Rock in the Yard
Officers located Law in the back yard and arrested him there, according to the complaint. The caller reportedly yelled that the gun was not loaded, and Law replied, “Come down and I’ll prove that it is.” A search of the property turned up a Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield hidden under a large rock behind the yard, with a magazine holding one hollow-point round and one full metal jacket round.
A bag found in Law's wallet contained two smaller baggies, one of which tested positive for fentanyl and weighed 0.04 grams, the complaint states. After officers read him his rights, Law told a sergeant that the other man had threatened him with brass knuckles that had a knife attached, and he denied having a gun, according to the same account.
Prior Felony Conviction Central to the Charges
The complaint says Law has a prior felony drug conviction that bars him from possessing firearms or ammunition under Minnesota law. The Ramsey County case page identifies the matter as an allegation based on a criminal complaint.
The charges fall under Minnesota's firearm-possession statute, Sec. 624.713, and the state's threats-of-violence statute, Sec. 609.713. The allegations described in the complaint have not been proven in court, and no outcome in the case has been reported.
