Police were called to the 900 block of Case Avenue East around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday for a shooting. There, officers found two adults suffering from gunshot wounds, and those victims directed officers to other victims. Inside, three people were pronounced dead. RELATED: Five shot, three dead after St. Paul shooting The Ramsey County Coroner’s Office identified the three homicide victims Monday as 33-year-old Angelica Gonzales, 42-year-old Cory Freeman and 44-year-old Maisha Spaulding, all of St. Paul. Family members of Gonzales, pictured below on the far right, told KSTP they don’t know what happened and don’t know any of the others involved in the incident. Angelica Gonzales (far right) is pictured with loved ones. Courtesy: Family On Monday afternoon, the mayor of St. Paul Melvin Carter, Interim Police Chief Jeremy Ellison and other leaders joined the African American Leadership Council and the Interfaith Ministerial Alliance of St. Paul Black and called on those responsible to surrender to the police. City and community leaders of St. Paul gather for a press conference on September 5, 2022, regarding Sunday’s triple homicide. (KSTP-TV) “What happened last night is simply unacceptable,” Carter said, adding that those responsible will be held accountable. Ellison called it “a sad day for our community” and noted that the investigation remains active. But Ellison said investigators believe they know who is responsible for the shooting, though he declined to confirm whether it was one person or multiple people. On Sunday, police described the scene as “one of the most complex scenes we’ve investigated in a long time.” Ellison said this was due to the number of victims and “just the tragedy”. The department said officers responded to 17 calls to the address over the past year for issues ranging from disorderly conduct to aggravated assault. When asked about those calls, Ellison noted that the number of calls doesn’t always mean something bigger is going on, but added that the department will “take a hard look at whether we missed something or could have done something differently, but this time it looks like we did what we could, given the information at the time.” Additionally, the department said it found nothing to indicate this was a domestic incident. With children heading back to school Tuesday, Sasha Cotton, the vice president of the African American Leadership Council, encouraged parents to remind their children that community members are working to make the city as safe as possible, adding, “that means that communities need to stand together when tragedies like this happen and we need to look after each other.” Sunday’s deaths are the 25th, 26th and 27th homicides of the year in St. Paul, according to police. The other two victims remained in stable condition as of Monday. Anyone with information is asked to call St. Paul police at 651-266-5650. Click the video box above to watch Monday’s full press conference.
