A 20-year-old St. Paul man is facing firearm-possession and threats-of-violence charges after police say gunfire erupted in an alley near Cornerstone Montessori Elementary School; a school employee reported hearing multiple gunshots. Georgi Htoo was taken into custody following what authorities describe as a chaotic scene involving a dispute over returning a loaned car, a brief standoff, and a loaded handgun.
According to a criminal complaint cited by MN Crime, St. Paul Police responded to an address at Cornerstone Montessori Elementary School in St. Paul, Ramsey County, on October 28, according to the case page for Htoo hosted on mncrime.com. A school employee reported hearing multiple gunshots, per the complaint, while another caller separately reported seeing a white car near a garage and hearing one gunshot followed by a woman screaming.
The complaint traces the incident back to a car. A witness told investigators he had loaned his white Ford Focus to a woman, and he later saw her driving it with Htoo in the passenger seat. Per the complaint, Htoo became verbally aggressive and told the woman not to return the car, then pulled out a firearm and fired shots into the air.
Woman Says She Was Grabbed And Shaken During The Drive
The woman later told police she had borrowed the car and was supposed to return it that day, and said she and Htoo were arguing when he told her not to give it back. Per the complaint, Htoo grabbed and shook her by the back of the neck and, at another point, pointed his gun out the passenger window and fired two rounds into the woods in an apparent effort to scare her. The complaint also states he made her keep driving.
A witness reported seeing a white car with a man and woman who appeared to be arguing as it drove past, and the driver eventually turned into an alley. There, per the complaint, Htoo continued screaming and grabbing the woman, at one point shaking her against the driver-side window. A separate witness said they heard a gunshot and a woman scream. The woman herself told police she could not remember whether Htoo fired a shot while they were in the alley.
Deputy Spotting Leads To Standoff Near The School
A Ramsey County deputy spotted the white Ford Focus with Htoo and the woman inside on October 28, and when officers arrived, the pair fled on foot. Htoo reportedly held a black pistol as he ran. Police surrounded him at a nearby address, where he refused commands to drop the weapon during a standoff that the complaint says lasted roughly five minutes before officers used less-lethal rounds to disarm him and take him into custody.
Investigators say they identified Htoo based on a witness description and confirmed his identity with a photo. At the scene, police recovered a 9mm Ruger pistol along with a spent 9mm shell casing found in the alley. Officers also reported finding one live .40 caliber round and 11 live 9mm rounds on Htoo.
Charges Filed In Ramsey County District Court
A complaint filed October 30 charges Htoo with two counts of possessing a firearm or ammunition as a person barred due to a crime of violence, along with one count of threats of violence, in Ramsey County District Court, according to the mncrime.com case page. Felony cases in Ramsey County are heard in the Second Judicial District at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown St. Paul, which sits within a county that also encompasses the city and is served by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office.
The threats-of-violence statute Htoo is charged under applies to anyone who threatens to commit a crime of violence with the purpose of terrorizing another person or causing serious public inconvenience, or who acts with reckless disregard of that risk, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. Under that statute, a conviction can carry a sentence of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both — though that describes the law's maximum possible penalty, not any outcome in Htoo's case.
As with any pending criminal matter, the case page notes that criminal charges are merely allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No hearing date or further case update was available at the time of this report.
