11-26-1997 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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StarTriburte Driver dodges injury as shots fired on 35W He calls 911 on cellular phone; Roseville man, 18, is arrested By Chris Graves Star Tribune Staff Writer A 46- year -old Victoria man ducked when he heard the first bullet hit his truck as he drove north on Interstate Hwy. 35W near the Stinson Boulevard exit in Minneapolis Sunday morning. "I just wanted to get out of the next bullet's path," said the man, who, for his family's safety, asked not to be named. That bullet came," as did an- other and another — any one of which could have easily struck him in the head, police said. The motorist was not injured in the random shooting, which happened about 6:30 a.m., said State Patrol Sgt. Tom Ludford. Nearly as amazing, he said, is that the man was collected enough to keep driving, call 911 on his cellular phone, peek over the steering wheel and give the 911 dispatcher an accurate de- scription of the shooter's car and the license plate number. Using that information, state trooper T. Hoover arrested an 18- year -old Roseville man minutes later in the car near the teen's home. On the seat of the car was a .22- caliber handgun and several spent .22- caliber casings. The suspect is being held in the Hennepin County jail. He is expected to be charged Tuesday. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects until they are charged. Ludford had high praise for the motorist: "He's the most calm, cool and collected person I've interviewed." The man, who was pulling a boat, was on his way to Keller Lake in Maplewood to help keep track of registration and scoring at an amateur water skiing tour- nament. Page 107 Monday SEPTEMBER 1, 1997 His 15- year -old daughter was supposed to go with him. But she opted to stay in bed. Had she been in the passenger 'seat of the sport-utility vehicle, it's likely she would have been seriously injured or killed. authorities said. One bullet passed through the passenger -side headrest and lodged in the windshield. Another shattered the front passenger -side window and lodged in the windshield just above the steering wheel. Another appeared to have come from the back of the vehicle and hit the front windshield. "It really hit me when I got home," he said standing near the sport- utility vehicle with his wife and daughter: "To see the family again, to appreciate the ability to see everyone again." He said he dbesn't know why anyone would want to shoot at him, saying he didn't make any movements toward the car, which came up alongside the sport - utility vehicle. "It's hard to describe: You feel scared at the moment it happens," he said. "Then you don't understand why, out of the blue, some- one would want to do something like that" Ludford said the suspect has not told investi- gators why he would want to shoot at the vehicle. But investigators were working Sunday to deter- mine whether he fired the weapon at a house and car in Little Canada and a stop sign in Roseville. The shooting comes just 30 days after 22 -year- old Laura MacPhee was shot to death on Inter- state Hwy. 94 in St. Paul. James Lundquist, 16, has been charged with aiming a 9- millimeter handgun from his car at the car in which Mac - Phee was a passenger. Just a little more than a year ago, Danny Ray Fuller was shot to death on Interstate Hwy. 94 near the Huron Street exit in Minneapolis. No motive is known in that shooting, and no one has been arrested. "I didn't know if I was coming or going... I just tried to get out of view," the victim of Sunday's shooting said. "But there's no place to go when you're right up against a steering wheel." "It's hard to describe: You feel scared at the moment it happens. Then you don't understand why, out of the blue, someone would want to do something like that." — Man targeted in random shooting