A St. Paul teenager was shot through the leg while sitting in his own bedroom after gunfire tore through the back wall of his home, part of a pair of drive-by shootings investigators say stemmed from a long-running gang feud. Two men, 18-year-old Tayva Souriyavong and 18-year-old Nathan Hla Peter, now face felony charges after prosecutors filed complaints tying them to the violence.
According to MN Crime, both men are charged with aiding and abetting a drive-by shooting toward an occupied motor vehicle or building. The complaints, filed Oct. 23 in Ramsey County District Court, describe the shootings as part of a feud between two gangs — identified in court documents as MAK and FSB/BTK — that dates back to 2023. A judge set bail at $150,000 for Souriyavong and $100,000 for Peter.
The violence unfolded over two shootings just hours apart in mid-September. Officers first responded to a drive-by at a St. Paul home around 10:45 p.m. on Sept. 13, where they found 28 spent 9mm and .40-caliber casings and a weapon light in front of the home where Souriyavong lives, per the same account. Then, around 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 14, officers responded to a second shooting at another St. Paul home, where the teenage victim was struck.
Bullets Through a Bedroom Door
The teen told officers he was in his bedroom with another person when gunshots rang out and a bullet came through the door, striking him in the leg. Medics took him to Regions Hospital. At the scene, officers found 16 spent 9mm casings and five spent .40-caliber casings scattered in the alley behind the home, and observed multiple bullet holes punched through the home's back wall, as well as a bullet hole through a window that appeared aligned with the hole in the bedroom door.
A neighbor told police she heard the gunshots and saw two vehicles speed off afterward, both resembling a Subaru Outback, with one described as white. A police dog tracked a human scent from the alley to an intersection near Desoto Street and Cook Avenue, where the trail went cold. Neighborhood surveillance video separately showed a white SUV followed by a gray SUV; investigators said the white SUV was possibly a Toyota RAV4.
Phone Data and Infotainment Records Tie Vehicle to Scene
Investigators said phone location data, a license plate reader and RAV4 infotainment data tied the vehicle to the area of the second shooting between 2:42 a.m. and 2:48 a.m. on Sept. 14. The complaints identified Souriyavong, Peter and two other people as being on one side of the dispute, and state that the broader feud involved multiple drive-by shootings and other violence.
Souriyavong declined an interview after his arrest, and the complaint said he was not cooperative with police. Peter told investigators he was not involved in any drive-by shootings before asking for a lawyer, which ended the interview, according to the complaints.
What the Charges Carry
Under Minnesota's complicity statute, a person can be held criminally liable for another's crime if they intentionally aid, advise, hire, counsel, conspire with, or otherwise help procure its commission, according to Minnesota Statutes Section 609.05. That statute does not by itself establish guilt in this case. Per the complaints, each count against Souriyavong and Peter carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, and a conviction could result in both penalties being imposed.
Ramsey County encompasses St. Paul, and felony cases like this one are heard in the Second Judicial District at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown St. Paul. Ramsey County Community Corrections operates the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in Maplewood.
Part of a Pattern of St. Paul Gun Violence
This case is far from the only drive-by shooting to rattle St. Paul this year. A May 26 shooting left one man with a gunshot wound to his upper back and left bullet holes in a passing van, according to a separate MN Crime report. Michael Wayne Williams, 27, of St. Paul, was later charged in Ramsey County District Court with illegally possessing a firearm as a person barred due to a crime of violence, drive-by shooting toward a person, and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
An even more devastating drive-by struck St. Paul on Nov. 22, when a shooting near Rondo Community Library killed Andre Lorenzo Mitchell while two young children riding in his car were not harmed. As reported by KSTP, investigators said the vehicle was hit by at least 13 bullets, including one that struck a baby's car seat. Four people were charged in that case, each facing two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and six counts of attempted second-degree murder; the Star Tribune identified two of them as Steven Rawls Jr., 25, of Minneapolis, and Jarvis Sanders, 23, of Gary, Indiana, who were separately charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in connection with Mitchell's death.
Citywide numbers from late 2025 offer some broader context, even if they predate this year's cases. St. Paul recorded 33 homicides in 2024, and as of Dec. 22, 2025, 73 people had been injured in shootings citywide, down from 191 over the same period in 2022, according to twincities.com. The outlet also reported that the clearance rate for nonfatal shootings climbed from 28 percent in 2022 to 61 percent in 2025.
