ST PAUL, Minn. — A birthday party at a St. Paul event center turned violent Saturday night and sent a teen boy to the hospital with a gunshot wound, according to police.
A spokesperson for the Saint Paul Police Department told KARE11 that officers responded to a reported shooting at an event center on the 500 block of Snelling Avenue North at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
When officers arrived, they were greeted by a large group of people who "attempted to prevent them from getting to the victim," according to Public Information Officer Steve Linders.
Once officers made it through the crowd, they found a 16-year-old boy with an apparent gunshot wound to his leg, police say. Medics from Saint Paul Fire transported the boy to a nearby hospital and he is expected to live.
Police say when officers began investigating inside the event center, about 100 people, many of them teens, were fighting outside.
The event center was hosting a birthday party and the manager turned people away when they tried bringing guns inside the building, according to police. One person with a gun made it inside and was escorted out.
Saint Paul police say the person then turned and started to shoot into the building and another person soon did the same. More than a dozen spent casings were found at the scene.
The shooting is still under investigation and no arrests have been made, officials say.
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