At around 12:45 PM on January 29, 2026, officers were sent to the area around 7th Street West and St. Peter Street, St. Paul, Ramsey County on a weapons complaint. Callers reported that a white woman was pointing what was possibly a BB gun at people in the area. An officer monitoring CCTV saw the woman dropped the weapon and ran toward a door at Dorothy Day on the 6th Street side. A caller followed the woman who pointed the gun and led police to her. The woman was identified as the defendant, ANA MERCEDES MEJIA [DOB REDACTED]. The defendant was arrested.
Officers recovered a magazine for the BB gun in the defendant’s hoodie pocket. The defendant said, “Oh yeah, I took that out.” Officers backtracked the defendant’s path and found a Famas F1 airsoft rifle-style handgun in the parking lot of [ADDRESS REDACTED]. The gun had an orange tip on its barrel. Officers spoke to CD [DOB REDACTED] who saw the defendant pointing the BB gun towards wedding store workers near 7th Street and St. Peter Street. CD called 911. The defendant turned towards CD and pointed the BB gun at him.
CD said he wasn’t intimidated because he knew it was not a real gun. CD identified the defendant as the woman who was pointing the gun at people in the area. CD also identified the recovered Famas F1 as the gun the defendant pointed at others. Officers spoke to DF [DOB REDACTED] who said she was a passenger in a Jeep driven by her husband on Seventh Street. As they approached St. Peter Street, the defendant stood in the middle of the intersection. The defendant raised the gun and pointed it at the Jeep’s windshield.
DF was frightened by the incident thinking the defendant was going to fire at them. The defendant committed these offenses while pending sentencing on an assault in the fourth degree where she spat on a correctional officer.
