A 37-year-old man is hospitalized following a shooting in downtown St. Paul Monday afternoon, police said.

Officers responded to the area of 5th Street E. and Cedar Street, across from the Green Line's Central Station, around 4 p.m. They located a man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his abdomen near the Alliance Bank Center parking garage, said Sgt. Mike Ernster. Paramedics rushed the victim to Regions Hospital with critical injuries late Monday, but his condition was later upgraded to stable.

Investigators soon arrested a 20-year-old suspect, who remains booked at Ramsey County jail on suspicion of aggravated assault. Formal charges are pending.

Despite rising concerns across the Twin Cities, violent crime in Minnesota's capital city ebbed in 2023. A Star Tribune analysis of St. Paul police data shows crime in most major categories, including robberies, aggravated assaults and rapes, declined last year — reversing a pandemic-era surge of violence.

The final tally of 32 murders in 2023 is an improvement after 2022's grim record of 40. A shooting at a New Year's gathering killed 23-year-old Abdifatah Abdillahi, marking the first homicide of 2024.