Homocides in the 'hood

These bad dudes firing their weapons way too close to home. Two shootings in the past few days, one resulting in a homocide. I was out with neighbors watching over the scene as the police collected evidence in the wee hours of Monday, my feet growing numb and my heart growing sad. Way too close to home. The newspapers and television stations waited until the press release from the police (about 15 hours later) to report on the incident. 

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(http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_11491630?nclick_check=1)

Man fatally shot is year's first homicide in St. Paul

By Mara H. Gottfried 
mgottfried@pioneerpress.com

Updated: 01/19/2009 03:40:01 PM CST

St. Paul police are investigating the first homicide of the year, a 43-year-old man fatally shot Sunday night.

Vernon Douglas Cafle was killed in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, police said today.

Police and paramedics were called to 662 Duluth St. about gunshots fired. They found Cafle, shot an unknown number of times, lying on the floor of the rear porch, police said. Paramedics tried to stabilize Cafle, but he died.

Police said a motive for the killing hadn't been determined, but it wasn't believed to be random.

On Saturday, less than a mile away, a 19-year-old man was shot in an apartment building at 1311 Conway St. He is in critical condition and police said today that they are seeking a suspect. Police also said that shooting wasn't believed to be random.

Anyone with information about Cafle's killing is asked to call police at 651-291-1111 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

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Excellent. Just what the neighborhood image needs, the infamy of hosting the first homocide of the year. We lived with a day and a half of not knowing who committed the crime or why, with the killer(s) loose in the metro. Today, they have two suspects in custody.

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(http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_11500591?source=topixheadlines)

2 men arrested in St. Paul slaying

By Mara H. Gottfried 
mgottfried@pioneerpress.com

Updated: 01/20/2009 02:45:12 PM CST

Police have arrested two people in Sunday's slaying of a man in his St. Paul home.

Jabaris Curt Boldman, 24, and Anthony Mathew Pearson, 27, both of St. Paul, were booked into the Ramsey County jail Monday night on suspicion of homicide, according to a jail log.

The men, who both list their home addresses at the same apartment in the 1000 block of York Avenue, have not been charged.

Police have said the fatal shooting of Vernon Douglas Cafle, 43, was not random, but detectives are still trying to determine a motive. Cafle was shot at 10:35 p.m. Sunday and died on the rear porch of his home at 662 Duluth St., in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood.

Boldman turned himself in at police headquarters. Officers spotted Pearson walking in the area of White Bear and Ross avenues, and he was arrested, police said.

Anyone with information about the suspects or who may have seen the shooting is asked to call police at 651-291-1111 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. Calls can be made anonymously, police said.

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Here's hoping that this is an isolated incident at this address. We'll certainly be keeping a very close eye on it.