Minnesota
Ramsey County attorney seeks state funds to solve non-fatal shootings
Convicted killer Wade Wilson featured in Netflix true-crime series
Wade Wilson, convicted in 2019 Cape Coral murders, features in Netflix’s Worst Ex Ever S2 – streams May 6.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, who helped devise a program to sharply increase arrests and prosecutions of non-fatal shootings, pressed state lawmakers Thursday to pass a bill for $1 million in grants to help other jurisdictions continue the successful experiment.
The bipartisan bill (HF1082), authored by House public safety co-chairs Reps. Kelly Moller and Paul Novotny, is modeled on Ramsey County’s non-fatal shooting unit, which has succesfully reduced gun crime in Ramsey County, and especially St. Paul.
Previously, police and prosecutors spent few resources investigating non-fatal shootings, which were viewed as less important than homicides and often involved engaging with difficult witnesses.
The logic of the program is straightforward: Non-fatal shootings are essentially failed homicides, and they often spur a cycle of retributive violence. By solving and prosecuting so few of them, authorities lost any chance at deterrance. The non-fatal shootings often escalated to killings.
“Safer communities start with solving crimes, and solving non-fatal shootings will help remove illegal guns and dangerous individuals off our streets,” Choi said in a press release following a Thursay event at the State Capitol.
Since the creation of the new unit, the solve rate for non-fatal shootings in St. Paul rose to 71% in 2025, up from 37% in 2024.
Non-fatal shootings also dropped by 62%, from 183 to 73 from 2024 to 2025. “Shots fired” reports decreased by 55% in 2025.
Investigating nonfatal shootings has also helped the homicide unit, which won a 100% solve rate on 15 St. Paul homicides in 2025, which was half the number of homicides as 2024.
Nationally, the homicide clearance rate hovers around 50%.
J. Patrick Coolican is Editor-in-Chief of Minnesota Reformer.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly trading three-time All-Star Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sends Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.
Minnesota is sending the 28th pick to the Nets and will be receiving the No. 33 pick that will be made in the second round on Wednesday night, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not received the required approvals from the league office.
For Minnesota, the trade opens up a slew of financial possibilities. It creates a $33 million trade exception, plus gives the Timberwolves room they can use to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu and target more players in free agency.
Randle, a three-time All-Star, will be moving to his fifth team after stints with New York, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans and the Timberwolves. He averaged 21.1 points this past season, though shot just 39% from the field and 24% from 3-point range in Minnesota’s 12 playoff contests.
Claxton just finished his seventh NBA season, all with Brooklyn. He averaged 11.7 points this past season.
The 2026 NBA Draft begins Tuesday night.
At Senator Westrom’s St. Paul office, visitors are greeted by the classic Minnesota state flag, which the DFL leaders should not have taken away from Minnesotans.
However, local communities have the authority to keep flying it, like many have done, and Senator Westrom encourages communities interested in keeping it to do so.
News-Tribune, June 22, 1926
More Duluthians cast votes in yesterday’s primary election than in any primary in the city’s history. Statewide, the “wets” had their day, with M.J. Maas of St. Paul, a “light wine and beer” candidate, appearing victorious in the 4th Congressional District, and W.A. Pittenger of Duluth, similarly regarded as a “wet,” taking a commanding lead in the 8th.
News-Tribune, June 22, 1956
Following the deaths of a pilot and eight civilians in a crash in a residential area near Wold Chamberlain Field in Minneapolis, Duluth Mayor Eugene Lambert filed a request with the U.S. Air Force and Navy that jet training operations be transferred to Duluth, where congestion is less of a problem.
News-Tribune, June 22, 1976
Ralph Nader named Duluth environmentalist Arlene Lehto one of America’s five “unsung heroines” for her contributions to pollution abatement. Lehto in 1969 organized the Save Lake Superior Association to fight pollution in the lake.
News Tribune, June 22, 2006
Duluth City Councilor Russ Stewart will present an ordinance to the council that extends the city’s existing standards for adult bookstores to adult entertainment. The move would allow the 62-year-old Club Saratoga to continue operation in the face of a state law prohibiting strip clubs within 500 feet of a residence or within 2,800 feet of churches and schools.
Barrett Chase has been web editor for the News Tribune since 2015. You can email him at bchase@duluthnews.com or call him at 218-723-5310.
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