With a handgun pointed at him and his passengers, a man behind the wheel of a car in downtown St. Paul responded with his own gun and shot the perpetrator, authorities said Wednesday.
The gunfire occurred about 7:50 p.m. Tuesday in the Lowertown neighborhood.
The suspect, Kevin D. Ashford, 31, of St. Paul, was charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with three counts of terroristic threats.
Police found Ashford with a gunshot wound to his chin and left collarbone. He was treated at Regions Hospital for noncritical injuries.
The driver holds a government-issued permit to carry a firearm, said police spokesman Steve Linders, adding that his name is being withheld "due to safety concerns."
Police said robbery was a possible motive, a question the charges did not address.
According to the criminal complaint and police: The driver and two passengers were listening to music in the 300 block of Wacouta Street when two men approached. Ashford went to the passenger side and waved at a man in the front passenger seat. The driver rolled down the window so the two could talk.
The passenger recognized Ashford as someone who had been sending his wife "rude texts," the complaint said. His wife was sitting in the back seat.
