A woman was fatally shot in the head early Saturday during a brawl that broke out among a crowd in the parking lot of a St. Paul business, police say.

Officers were called to the 100 block of W. Larpenteur Avenue around 1 a.m. on reports of a fight involving "upward of 50 people," police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster said. As they were headed to the scene, they received another 911 call that shots had been fired at the same location.

Vehicles were leaving the scene when officers arrived. Officers found no one injured, Ernster said.

Shortly afterward, Ramsey County sheriff's deputies who were aware of the incident stopped a car speeding north on Rice Street at Owasso Boulevard on suspicion that the driver and passengers may have been involved in the brawl.

Officers found a female passenger in the vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, according to police. Deputies began first aid and called paramedics, who pronounced the woman dead at the scene of the stop, Ernster said.

Police believe the woman was shot in the head during the brawl, Ernster said.

Officers secured the scenes of the fight and traffic stop and canvassed the areas for witnesses. Police have yet to hear from anyone who witnessed the fight, Ernster said.

"We need to hear from them to get justice for this victim," he said. "Fifty witnesses that we need to hear from so that we can determine what happened and who's responsible."

The shooting death marked St. Paul's 16th homicide of the year, Ernster said, up from 10 at this time last year. No arrests have been made. Police ask anyone with information about the incident to call 651-266-5650.

Ryan Faircloth • 612-673-4234

Twitter: @ryanfaircloth