One dead, one wounded in St. Paul gunfire

Gloria Balderas' rising fear of her neighborhood climaxed Wednesday when a man was shot to death and another was wounded between her house and a neighborhood bar with a checkered record.

Trevell Glass, 26, was killed about 2 a.m. on Manitoba Avenue at Rice Street in St. Paul's North End neighborhood, police said. Ryan L. Davis, 28, was wounded by gunfire and taken to Regions Hospital. He is expected to survive. Four suspects were arrested, one on suspicion of murder. It was St. Paul's second 2011 homicide.

The shooting occurred near Born's Bar at 899 Rice St., which many residents say attracts rowdy crowds that spill onto residential streets in fisticuffs and gunfire.

"Thursday, Friday, Saturday -- it's scary to come home through the neighborhood," Balderas said. "Through the day it's a quiet neighborhood, but at night it gets crazy."

Relationships between the victims and suspects and the motive behind the shooting remain murky. Police provided few details. A group of acquaintances became involved in a dispute elsewhere before they ended up at Born's Bar, said City Council Member Lee Helgen. Some of the men were kicked out of the bar, but they waited outside until the others left at closing time, said Helgen, who represents the area.

According to police, authorities responded to calls of shots fired and found Glass dead. Officers stopped the suspect vehicle near Case and York avenues on the East Side, where one man fled on foot. He was eventually arrested with the help of a police dog. Three passengers were also arrested.

"We're still piecing together what led up to that," said Officer John Keating, a police spokesman.

Police would not say whether Glass and Davis were the intended targets. No one has been charged, and police have not ruled out the possibility of more arrests.

Glass' family believes he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, said his cousin Ray Williams.

"He was a great guy," Williams said. "It's not the lifestyle that he had."

Glass was engaged and was the father of several children, including a 6-month-old. He grew up in St. Paul and was working on an associate degree in business management, Williams said.

"I just want to say my kid was a good kid," said Glass' mother, Yvette Glass.

Glass' criminal record did not show major convictions; he had convictions for possession of marijuana and misdemeanor drunken driving.

Although police said they have not made a direct connection between events inside Born's Bar and the shooting, residents aren't as uncertain. One witness said Davis was lying on the sidewalk by the bar's entrance, and Williams said he believes Glass had been in the bar before the shooting.

Police records show that since 2006, there have been 800 911 calls or proactive police visits to Born's Bar. On April 1, police responded to shots fired at the bar and arrested three felons for illegally possessing a firearm. This year police responded to 12 calls of a disturbance or fight at the bar.

Residents said the city needs to help clean up the bar's act, but Helgen said it's not that easy. Shuttering a bar takes time and evidence based on willful violations of law, not necessarily customers' misbehavior. He said that the council has tried placing conditions on the bar to help.

"It's been very problematic," Helgen said. "We thought things were getting better, but we're going to revisit it and we're going to put some intense scrutiny on it."

Bar owner Jerome Born did not return calls seeking comment.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

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