2 men charged in connection with deadly mass shooting at St. Paul bar

Two suspects have been charged with a dozen felonies each in connection with a shootout that killed a woman and injured 14 others early Sunday morning in St. Paul's entertainment district.

Terry Brown, 31, of St. Paul has been charged with one count of second-degree murder and 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder. Devondre Phillips, 29, of Las Vegas, is charged with 12 counts of attempted second-degree murder.

According to a criminal complaint, police responded to a report of a shooting at Seventh Street Truck Park at 214 West Seventh Street around 12:15 a.m. When officers arrived, they encountered a "chaotic scene" with multiple people who had been shot. The complaint states 12 gunshot victims were taken to hospitals in the area.

A woman, who family have identified as 27-year-old Marquisha Wiley, was being carried with a gunshot wound to her back, the complaint states. She was not moving. Officers briefly found a pulse, but it disappeared after a few seconds. A medic pronounced her dead minutes later.

Attorney: Task force members acted lawfully, no charges to be filed in Winston Smith death

The U.S. Marshals Service task force members who shot and killed then-32-year-old Winston Smith on top of an Uptown parking garage in July will not be charged.

A Crow Wing County attorney has reviewed the case and determined the actions of the U.S. Marshal Task Force were exercised lawfully, further stating that Smith had pointed his weapon at a responding deputy during the incident this past summer. 

"It is in my opinion that the use of deadly force by the US Marshals Task Force on June 3, 2021, was authorized under Minnesota Law... Therefore, no criminal prosecution should be sought in this matter," Crow Wing County Attorney Donald F. Ryan wrote in his decision. 

The review was done by the Crow Wing attorney due to a conflict of interest, at Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's discretion. 

3 men in custody after 1 killed, 14 hurt in St. Paul bar shooting

Three men are in custody Monday morning in connection with a fatal shooting at a St. Paul bar Sunday.

Police said a woman was killed and 14 other people were hurt by the gunfire at Seventh Street Truck Park bar, which is about a block away from the Xcel Energy Center.

The family of Marquisha Wiley has identified her as the woman who died. The Ramsey County medical examiner confirmed the identification Monday, adding the 27-year-old woman was from St. Paul.

The people inside the bar Sunday morning told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS there were moments they'll never be able to forget.

Pressure is growing on Biden to lift Trump's tariffs as supply chain problems worsen

There's a quick move President Joe Biden could make to immediately help relieve the stress the pandemic-related supply chain crisis is having on US companies: Lift the tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump.

Trump put tariffs on roughly $350 billion of Chinese-made goods -- and despite the change in administrations, those duties remain in place. American importers have paid more than $106 billion to cover the cost of those levies to date, and many of them are now facing skyrocketing shipping costs.

While the Biden administration has been conducting a comprehensive review of the US-China trade policy, it has said little about restarting trade talks or lifting punitive duties.

Now the pressure on the Biden administration to address the issue is ramping up, as supply chain problems are getting worse -- resulting in shortages and higher prices for everything from sneakers to furniture to cars.

Minnesota high court says Minneapolis public safety question can be voted on

The Minnesota Supreme Court says the Minneapolis public safety ballot question can be voted on and counted.

In a ruling late Thursday, the high court reversed a district court's decision to block the city from counting votes on the question. There was no memo immediately explaining the court's decision.

Earlier Thursday, the state's high court said city and county officials didn't have to provide an insert for voters providing better context with the question.

Early voting opens at 8 a.m. Friday.

St. Paul man who shot at MPD in self-defense acquitted of all charges by jury

A St. Paul man has been acquitted on all charges in a jury trial stemming from an incident where he shot at Minneapolis police officers in self-defense last summer.

Court records show 28-year-old Jaleel Stallings was acquitted on Wednesday of multiple charges, including two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, second-degree riot and intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety.

Stallings claimed self-defense in court.

The incident happened days after the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. According to the original complaint, officers were allegedly patrolling near 15th Avenue South and Lake Street on May 30, 2020. When officers reached the area of 14th Avenue South, they witnessed a group of people that allegedly dispersed upon seeing police. Police then got out of an unmarked white van, wearing full uniforms and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) gear. Officers involved were assigned to deploy "non-lethal" rounds to "attempt to disperse crowds" as a curfew was in effect at the time.

This Minneapolis Police SWAT unit, supervised by Sgt. Andrew Bittell, was directed to enforce the mandated curfew and disperse rioters, looters and arsonists. According to Judge William H. Koch, who viewed the body cameras in their entirety and submitted court documents reflecting on it, the officers on that unit also were equipped with 40 mm launchers and rounds of rubber bullets. Department policy states that the purpose of these launchers is "to assist in the de-escalation of potentially violent confrontations." MPD policy also states that the launchers must be marked with an orange barrel, which indicates the weapon is "less-lethal."

Marine Corporal Discharged over Refusal to Wear a Mask

Marine Cpl. Whitney McHaffie refused to comply with a mask mandate and doesn't want to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

A month after the Defense Department's mask mandate for unvaccinated troops went into effect, she was booted from the military, possibly making her the first service member to be forced out of the service for violating COVID-related rules.

McHaffie, who served at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, went viral on social media after appearing in a video with Josh Mandel, a former Ohio state treasurer who is currently in his second run for the Senate. The video, in which she tells her story of being swiftly booted from the Corps for disobeying the mask mandate, had more than 400,000 views as of Tuesday morning.

Vaccines are now mandatory for troops, but were not at the time of McHaffie's discharge. Despite that, the amateur MMA fighter and fifth-grade teacher in Ohio sought a religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine that had not been resolved by the time of her discharge.

Biden backs end to wolf protections but hunting worries grow

President Joe Biden's administration is sticking by the decision under former President Donald Trump to lift protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S. But a top federal wildlife official on Friday told The Associated Press there is growing concern over aggressive wolf hunting seasons adopted for the predators in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains.

Wolves under federal protection made a remarkable rebound in parts of the U.S. over the past several decades, after being driven from the landscape by excessive hunting and trapping in the early 1900s.

States took over wolf management last decade in the Northern Rockies and in January for the remainder of the Lower 48 states, including the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest.