At around 8:40 AM on September 12, 2025, officers responded to a criminal damage to property and threat of violence call. Officers met the caller at [ADDRESS REDACTED] East, St. Paul, Ramsey County. Officers spoke to EVS [DOB REDACTED]. EVS said he drives for Uber and Lyft, and he had just dropped a passenger off in the area of Maryland Avenue East and Interstate 35 E, St. Paul, Ramsey County when a man driving an Audi Q5 threw a rock at EVS’s 2024 Ford Escape. EVS followed the Audi and took photos of it.
The driver, later identified as SHAWN ASHFORD [DOB REDACTED], got out of the Audi with a gun held at his side pointing to the ground in one hand and another rock in the other. Ashford looked around, noticed all the people in the area, got back in the Audi and drove away. The Audi Q5 is owned by a woman associated with Ashford. EVS later picked Ashford out of a photo line-up as the man who confronted him with a gun. On November 19, 2025, Ashford was stopped and arrested while driving the Audi Q5 bearing Minnesota license plates KBR601. Ashford was advised of his constitutional rights and agreed to speak to an investigator.
Ashford was shown the photos EVS took. Ashford agreed it was his car in the photos. Ashford was told that the photos were taken on Maryland Avenue near Jackson Street. Ashford said he lives in that area. When told the photos were taken around 8:30 AM, Ashford said that was the time he brings his daughter to the bus stop. Ashford denied being involved in any confrontation. Ashford is charged with felon in possession of a firearm in Hennepin County District Court file 27-CR-24- 16076. Ashford had a loaded handgun beneath the Jeep seat where he was sitting.
Ashford’s DNA was on the handgun’s slide serrations and grip. Ashford is charged with felon in possession of a firearm in Dakota County District Court file 19HA-CR-25- 977. Ashford had a loaded handgun beneath the driver’s seat of a silver SUV where he was sitting. Ashford is charged with felon in possession of a firearm in Ramsey County District Court file 62-CR-25- 4519. Ashford spat at a mail carrier inside his mail vehicle. Ashford had a loaded handgun beneath the driver’s seat of the Audi Q5 when stopped a short time later.
