4 Men Charged After Shootout Near Saint Paul Market
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A shooting outside a Saint Paul market this week has led to charges against four people after a running car struck a Dairy Queen on Earl Street and officers found all four men wounded in the surrounding area.
Police were called to Twins Market & Meat on Fourth Street East at 4:45 p.m. on Dec. 1 and arrived to find a chaotic scene involving gunfire between two groups, a crashed vehicle and victims scattered across multiple locations.
According to court documents, officers found 22-year-old Eric Kapreece Richards leaning against the Dairy Queen with a gunshot wound to his right leg. Police applied a tourniquet to his upper-right thigh before paramedics took him to Regions Hospital. They then located 23-year-old Kemarion Keith Thompson across Earl Street lying between the curb and sidewalk with gunshot wounds to his right arm and chest.
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A citizen directed officers to two more victims at a home on Fourth Street East, where police found 23-year-old Shataurus Orlando Dozier with a gunshot wound to his lower left leg and 22-year-old Donnavin Travonte Dozier with a gunshot wound to his left ankle. Officers also retrieved a fur-lined jacket belonging to Shataurus from a nearby retaining wall.
All four men were taken to the hospital. Richards, Shataurus Dozier and Donnavin Dozier suffered injuries described as not life-threatening. Thompson was immediately taken into surgery.
At the hospital, Donnavin Dozier told investigators he had driven his brother to the store and that within 10 seconds of stepping out of their Chevrolet Trax he heard gunshots. He said he ran around the side of the building and kept going until he reached a nearby house where he pounded on windows seeking help. He denied knowing who had shot them. Richards refused to answer questions, and Shataurus Dozier asked for an attorney.
A witness parked in the Dairy Queen lot reported hearing rapid gunfire from the Twins Market parking lot. The witness said the Chrysler 200 involved in the shooting drove across the lot toward the Dairy Queen with Richards following on foot. The Chrysler hit the witness’s vehicle before crashing into the front of the building. The witness also said both Richards and Thompson were holding handguns and that Richards’s gun had an extended magazine. The witness later saw both men emerge from behind the Dairy Queen without firearms. Thompson collapsed where officers found him, and Richards sat in front of the building.
Police recovered a Glock 29 with an extended magazine in a dumpster on the south side of the Dairy Queen.
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Surveillance video from the store provided investigators with a detailed timeline. The Chrysler parked directly in front of the entrance and Richards got out and walked inside while Thompson remained behind the wheel. About 40 seconds later a Chevrolet Trax pulled into the lot and parked about 15 yards behind the Chrysler. An unidentified man in a blue jacket got out of the Trax and entered the store. Shataurus Dozier exited the Trax’s front passenger seat, followed by Donnavin Dozier from the driver’s seat. The brothers approached the entrance as Richards came out of the store, with Shataurus about 15 feet ahead of Donnavin.
As Richards neared the Chrysler he suddenly spun and opened fire at Donnavin Dozier. Donnavin fled around the side of the store, limping as bullet impacts appeared in the snow. Shataurus ran back into the store. Richards continued firing toward both brothers as he moved toward the Dairy Queen. Inside the store, the unidentified man crouched with a handgun.
Thompson briefly stepped out of the Chrysler and fired a handgun with an extended magazine toward the store doorway and the parking lot where Donnavin had run. He got back inside and attempted to drive away, heading toward the Dairy Queen. At the same time Shataurus cracked open the door of the store and repeatedly fired into the passenger side of the Chrysler as it moved through the lot. The driver’s door of the Chrysler swung open and Thompson fell out, hitting the ground on his back. The car continued rolling across Earl Street with the door still open. Thompson got up and ran after the vehicle.
Shataurus fled toward the Trax, and Richards appeared from the side of the store and shot him as he neared the vehicle. Shataurus fell. The Chrysler continued into the Dairy Queen lot, hit a parked car which closed the open driver’s door and then crashed into the Dairy Queen. Richards and Thompson regrouped at the crashed Chrysler.
Both Dozier brothers, limping from their injuries, returned to the Trax and moved toward the building near a panel truck. The man in the blue jacket ran out of the store toward the Trax and met the brothers. Court documents say both brothers appeared to hand him firearms before they hopped out of camera view. The man then ran from the scene with the guns.
A separate surveillance angle showed Donnavin Dozier and Richards meeting behind the store where Donnavin shot Richards.
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Court documents also detail extensive criminal histories for all four charged men. Donnavin Dozier has four prior felony convictions including two for felon in possession of a firearm along with drug distribution offenses that make him ineligible to possess firearms or ammunition. He received two dispositional departures on firearm cases on Jan. 12, 2024.
Shataurus Dozier has five prior felony convictions including multiple robberies and a felon in possession conviction that bars him from possessing firearms or ammunition. He received a downward dispositional departure in November 2022. Thompson has prior convictions for felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition and a prior aggravated robbery adjudication. He was released from the Minnesota Department of Corrections on Oct. 29. Richards previously received a stay of adjudication in a fleeing police case.
All four now face new felony charges tied to the shooting. Richards is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Thompson is charged with being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm and with a drive-by shooting toward an occupied motor vehicle or building. Shataurus Dozier is charged with attempted second-degree murder and being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm. Donnavin Dozier is charged with second-degree riot while armed with a dangerous weapon.
Authorities have not said whether the unidentified man in the blue jacket has been located or identified.
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