A gun was found at Roseville Area High School Tuesday and police said they arrested two students.
The case comes a month after two students at the same school were found with guns in separate incidents.
In Tuesday’s case, school staff received a report about 1 p.m. that a gun was on campus, Principal Jen Wilson wrote in a letter to families. As a precaution, students and staff were told to stay in their classrooms.
The school worked with Roseville police to conduct a search and the gun was found, Wilson wrote. Police arrested a 16-year-old on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a person under age 18, according to Roseville Deputy Police Chief Joe Adams. Officers also arrested a 17-year-old who police believed was involved, he said.
The Ramsey County attorney’s office is reviewing the case for potential charges.
“From a school perspective, our next step for the student involved will be to follow our disciplinary action, which has a number of potential results up to and including expulsion,” Wilson said.
On Sept. 25, a handgun was found in a 17-year-old student’s backpack at Roseville Area High School. That afternoon, in an unrelated case, a 16-year-old student was discovered with a gun. Prosecutors charged both of them and they pleaded guilty in juvenile court.
Judges sentenced both to probation supervision, and ordered both to remain law abiding and to complete programming and individual therapy. The 16-year-old was ordered to complete 80 hours of community work service, and the 17-year-old is to complete 40 hours.
— Mara H. Gottfried
Victim identified in West Side slaying
A man found fatally shot early Monday in St. Paul was a 23-year-old, police said Wednesday.
David Lashawn Isaac, of St. Paul, died on the West Side.
A 911 caller just after midnight on Monday reported “a person down on the ground” behind a residence in the 400 block of South Clinton Avenue, police have said.
Officers found Isaac in a driveway/parking lot area behind townhomes. He had been shot and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene near Cesar Chavez and Robert streets.
No one was under arrest as of Wednesday and police said their investigation of the city’s 29th homicide of the year is ongoing.
— Mara H. Gottfried
Woman pleads guilty in ex’s June crash death
An Eden Prairie woman has admitted to drunkenly crashing her minivan into an oncoming pickup in South St. Paul, killing her ex-husband and injuring two other people.
Bobbie Jo Puttbrese, 53, pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation in the June 5 crash on Concord Street that killed Paul Edward Craven, a 60-year-old from St. Paul who had previously been married to Puttbrese.
Puttbrese entered a “straight plea,” meaning there is no agreement between the defense and the prosecution on the terms of her sentence. Her sentencing has been set for Jan. 18.
South St. Paul police collected surveillance video from a nearby business that showed Puttbrese’s minivan traveling south on Concord Street, crossing the centerline near Chestnut Street and colliding with the pickup, which was headed north.
A breath test revealed she had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.201 — more than twice the legal limit to drive, the complaint said.
Her criminal history includes misdemeanor convictions for driving under the influence in 1993 and 2000.
— Nick Ferraro
Hyundai to offer anti-theft ‘mobile clinics’
Hyundai said Wednesday that it will set up “mobile clinics” at five U.S. locations, including the Twin Cities, to provide anti-theft software upgrades for vehicles now regularly targeted by thieves using a technique popularized on TikTok and other social media platforms.
The South Korean automaker will hold the clinics, which will run for two to three days on or adjacent to weekends, in New York; Chicago; Minneapolis; St. Paul; and Rochester, N.Y. The clinics will take place between Oct. 28 and Nov. 18.
Hyundai said it will also support single-day regional clinics run by dealerships before the end of 2023, although it didn’t name locations or dates.
The automaker listed the affected vehicles as the 2018-2022 Accent, the 2011-2022 Elantra, the 2013-2020 Elantra GT, the 2013-2014 Genesis Coupe, the 2018-2022 Kona, the 2020-2021 Palisade, the 2013-2022 Santa Fe, the 2013-2018 Santa Fe Sport, the 2019 Santa Fe XL, the 2011-2019 Sonata, the 2011-2022 Tucson, the 2012-2017 and 2019-2021 Veloster, and the 2020-2021 Venue.
Theft rates of the affected automobiles soared after thieves discovered these models lack engine immobilizers, an anti-theft technology that has long been standard in other vehicles.
— Associated Press
Craig’s bill expands USPS transparency
In an effort to increase reporting on mail service problems in her district, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig has introduced legislation to increase transparency of the U.S. Postal Service.
The bill requires the postal service to notify customers of undelivered and partially delivered routes by ZIP codes, according to a news release sent out by Craig, with the goal being to keep customers informed of when they can expect deliveries or delays. More information on the bill can be found at craig.house.gov.
Last winter Craig asked for comment from constituents on the issue and received more than 3,000 complaints involving lack of communication, lost items and delays.
“For months, my constituents have been left wondering when their mail — their prescription medications, notes from loved ones, small business checks — will be delivered. This bill will help Minnesotans get timely and accurate information when it comes to their mail delivery, and will help hold USPS accountable for poor delivery service. I’ll keep working to improve postal service here in the South Metro,” Craig said.
Craig also has called on U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to consider opening a post office to serve Lakeville and Farmington.
— Staff report
Victims identified in fatal semi collision
Authorities have identified a semitrailer truck driver and another motorist killed in a fiery crash late Monday afternoon on Interstate 94 in western Wisconsin.
The seven-vehicle crash happened around 5:38 p.m. on westbound I-94 near Wilson in St. Croix County, the Wisconsin State Patrol said.
State Patrol troopers, St. Croix County sheriff’s deputies and multiple fire and EMS units responded to the scene, near the Highway 128 overpass. Two motorists were pronounced dead at the scene. Six others were injured.
Transportation management video shows a white semitrailer truck moving at a high rate of speed and ramming into the back of a passenger vehicle and another semi, causing a trail of flames as the vehicles disappear from the camera’s view.
On Tuesday, the State Patrol said that the collision occurred in a construction zone, where traffic was slowing, when the first semi crashed into a Ford F-150 pickup truck and the second semi. Four other vehicles also crashed. Multiple fires ignited in the pileup, which led to the temporary closing of the Highway 128 overpass as authorities inspected the bridge for damage.
Killed were the drivers of the first semi, Zdzislaw Obodzinski, 76, of Palatine, Ill., and the Ford F-150, James Michael Shearer, 45, of Hammond, Wis. The injured motorists, including a 6-year-old Minneapolis girl, were treated and released.
— Staff report
2 killed in wrong-way driving collision
Two people were killed when the vehicle they were in was struck by a truck traveling the wrong way on a Wisconsin road.
The Dodge County sheriff’s office said deputies were responding about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday to reports of the truck heading south in the northbound lanes of U.S. 151 in Chester when the crash was reported.
The box truck struck a Kia sedan head-on. The sedan then was hit by a third vehicle.
A 25-year-old man driving the Kia and a 28-year-old woman who was a passenger were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Two others in the sedan and three people in the third vehicle were hurt and taken to area hospitals.
A 69-year-old Pennsylvania man was driving the truck.
— Associated Press
Deer crashes through restaurant’s window
People go to Noodles & Company to save a buck, not to have one interrupt their meal. But that’s what happened in Beloit on Tuesday when a deer came crashing through the restaurant’s window.
Surveillance footage shows a deer charging into the crowded restaurant around lunchtime, prompting diners to scatter. The animal then explored the dining area and kitchen before exiting out a back door opened by an employee, Noodles & Company spokesperson Stephanie Jerome told the Associated Press.
No one was harmed in the incident, and the location has since reopened after a thorough cleaning.
— Associated Press