2 more suspects charged in connection with St. Paul park shooting

Two additional suspects were charged Friday in connection with last weekend's large-scale fight and gang-related shooting at Indian Mounds Regional Park in St. Paul.

Samuel A. McCormick, 24, of St. Paul, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with one count each of a crime committed for the benefit of a gang, first-degree riot and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Glen D. Acon, 32, of Coon Rapids, was charged with one count of first-degree riot.

A spate of gun violence in the city began with a teen shot to death in the park Sunday evening and ended almost 24 hours later when a 30-year-old man was fatally shot at an apartment in the city's Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Authorities declined to comment on whether the events are related.

Bobby D. Collins, 18, of St. Paul, was killed during a barbecue at the scenic park, which is not known for violence. On a warm Sunday evening, as about 300 people gathered at the large shelter on Mounds Boulevard near Earl Street, shots rang out and bedlam ensued as partygoers fled on foot and in vehicles.

Collins was found dead at the scene. McCormick was taken to Regions Hospital by a friend for treatment for a gunshot wound to the leg.

According to the charges, Collins was shot in the back of the head about 7:20 p.m. after a verbal altercation between several people that appeared to be gang-related.

"[The woman] wanted to leave, but her boyfriend told her he would fight the others one-on-one," the criminal complaint said. "[The woman] took out her mace and sprayed several of the gang members."

Gunfire soon erupted.

A witness' cellphone video helped identify Collins, McCormick and two other suspects charged on Tuesday — Prince Kavanaugh Romel Williams, 24, and Rashawn Porter, 18, — as the group that confronted the woman's boyfriend, the charges said. A fifth man, Rayvion T. Brooks, 18, was also charged in connection with Collins' death, although the criminal complaints don't make clear who is believed to have fired the fatal shot.

More than 25 shots were exchanged among multiple people with guns. Police have declined to say who Collins' suspected shooter is, or whether that person remains at large.

On Wednesday, Police Chief Thomas Smith, Mayor Chris Coleman and St. Paul community leaders pleaded for residents to put down their guns, and city officials pledged to find more money to bump up the police department's staffing.