A man was shot and wounded as a community meeting was underway in St. Paul on Monday night, according to police.

During the meeting, two people entered a building — possibly through an unsecured door — and fired shots, said Alyssa Arcand, a St. Paul police spokeswoman, of preliminary information. It wasn’t immediately clear where the shooting happened in relation to the meeting itself or if the victim was attending.

Officers were called just before 6:30 p.m. to the 2500 block of University Avenue in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood. They found evidence of a shooting, but no victims or suspects.

A short time later, a man arrived at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis with a non-fatal gunshot injury to his arm, Arcand said.

Police are investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

— Mara H. Gottfried

Student, 15, detained in possible Irondale threat

Officers detained a 15-year-old boy after a possible threat of school violence, according to the New Brighton Department of Public Safety.

The department thanked “many members of the” Irondale High School community in New Brighton “for quickly bringing to our attention a possible threat of violence posted on social media,” New Brighton police wrote on social media late Sunday.

Through the investigation, police located the teen, spoke with him and searched his family’s residence, where they found no evidence of weapons, said Tony Paetznick, New Brighton Public Safety director.

Police said they will be referring the case to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. The county attorney’s office said they can’t provide additional information because of the youth’s age.

“The investigation has concluded there is no ongoing danger to our students or staff,” Irondale High School Principal Vichai Saefong wrote to parents. “As such, school will be in session on Monday as usual.”

The case comes on the heels of a 12-year-old girl who St. Paul police say last week admitted to making a social media threat against schools that was widely circulated. She “did not have the means or desire to carry out the threat,” police wrote in a social media update last week.

That post named 22 schools in St. Paul, Maplewood, Roseville and Little Canada and led two charter schools in St. Paul to close on Thursday.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has noted “an increase in mentions on social media regarding school violence,” according to Howie Padilla, Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman.

“Investigators take each mention seriously and work with partner agencies to investigate it,” he said.

On Sept. 4 in Georgia, a 14-year-old boy is accused of fatally shooting two fellow students and two teachers at his high school east of Atlanta.

— Mara H. Gottfried

Gaïtas formally takes oath as new justice

The newest member of the Minnesota Supreme Court formally took her seat on the bench Monday during an investiture ceremony.

Associate Justice Theodora Gaïtas was sworn in at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

“I am honored to stand before you today to pledge my commitment to serving the people of Minnesota as an associate justice of the Supreme Court,” Gaïtas said. “I am also deeply grateful — thank you Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan for giving me this opportunity.”

Walz, who is the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, took a break from the campaign trail to attend the ceremony.

“I can tell you with absolute confidence that Justice Gaïtas is the right person for this moment,” Walz said Monday. “I know that the state’s high court and the people of Minnesota will be well served.”

Gaïtas officially joined the Supreme Court on Aug. 1 during a private swearing-in ceremony.

In April, Walz appointed Gaïtas and Sarah Hennesy to replace, respectively, Margaret Chutich and G. Barry Anderson, who have retired. Gaïtas and Hennesy were the third and fourth members Walz has appointed to the high court. Walz’s predecessor, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, appointed the other three members of the court.

Hennesy formally took the oath of office in July.

Gaïtas had been a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She previously served as a judge on the Hennepin County District Court, where she presided over a felony caseload in the criminal division. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, she also worked as an attorney in private practice and as an appellate public defender.

— Staff report

Judge rules Kennedy must remain on ballot

A judge denied Robert F. Kennedy’s request Monday to erase his name from the presidential ballot in swing state Wisconsin, ruling that state law requires candidates to remain on the ballot unless they die.

Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke’s decision marks the latest twist in Kennedy’s push to remove himself from ballots in key battleground states where the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is tight.

Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump. Kennedy said he would try to get his name removed from ballots in battleground states while telling his supporters that they could continue to back him in the majority of states where they are unlikely to sway the outcome.

Kennedy won a court order in North Carolina earlier this month to remove his name from ballots there. Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled last week that he’ll remain on that state’s ballot, however.

Kennedy filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin on Sept. 3 seeking a court order removing him from the ballot. He argued that third-party candidates are discriminated against because state law treats Republicans and Democrats running for president differently.

He pointed out that Republicans and Democrats have until 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September before an election to certify their presidential nominee but independent candidates like himself can only withdraw before the Aug. 6 deadline for submitting nomination papers.

Ehlke denied Kennedy’s request in no uncertain terms. He ruled that Wisconsin statutes clearly state that once candidates file valid nomination papers they will remain on the ballot unless they die.

“The statute is plain on its face,” the judge said.

Ehlke went on to note that many county clerks have already sent out ballots for printing ahead of Wednesday’s deadline with Kennedy’s name on them.

Kennedy’s attorneys had suggested the clerks cover his name with stickers, the standard practice when a candidate dies. The judge rejected that idea, calling it a logistical nightmare and questioning whether the stickers would gum up tabulating machines. He also noted there could be opportunities for litigation if clerks failed to cover his name on any number of ballots.

“Mr. Kennedy has no one to blame but himself if he didn’t want to be on the ballot,” Ehlke said.

Kennedy’s attorneys took the unusual step of asking a state appellate court to take the case days before Ehlke ruled in hopes of expediting an appellate ruling. The 2nd District Court of Appeals has been waiting for Ehlke’s ruling before deciding whether to take the case. Online court records didn’t indicate any immediate action from the appellate court after the ruling.

The presence of independent and third-party candidates on the ballot could be a key factor in Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by between 5,700 votes and about 23,000 votes.

In 2016, Green Party nominee Jill Stein got just over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin — more than Trump’s winning margin of just under 23,000 votes. Some Democrats have blamed her for helping Trump win the state and the presidency that year.

— Associated Press