Police took a person of interest into custody as investigators searched for evidence and worked to determine what led to the violence.
ST. PAUL, MN — Three adults were found dead Monday afternoon inside the leasing office of an apartment complex in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, prompting a large police response and an hourslong search of the surrounding area.
Officers were sent to the 1500 block of St. Paul Avenue at about 4:10 p.m. after reports of gunfire, according to police. They entered the leasing office and found the three victims dead. Their names had not been released by early Tuesday, and police did not immediately disclose whether they lived or worked at the complex.
A person of interest was taken into custody Monday night, the St. Paul Police Department said in a social media update shortly before 10 p.m. Police did not identify that person, describe any possible connection to the victims or announce criminal charges. Investigators were still working to determine what led to the shooting.
Police evacuated residents from part of the complex while officers secured the area. A large number of law enforcement vehicles gathered near St. Paul Avenue and Davern Street, and police tape restricted access to nearby buildings as investigators searched for evidence.
Officers also focused on another apartment building in the 1300 block of St. Paul Avenue during the search. Police carrying long guns called for someone to leave an apartment and used less-lethal rounds through a second-floor window. Police Chief Axel Henry later said officers did not find a suspect at that location.
Henry said investigators executed at least one search warrant Monday. He said it was too early to determine whether the victims knew the person responsible or whether the shooting was connected to their work, housing or another relationship.
“This is an unbelievably big tragedy for our city,” Henry said during an evening news conference. “It will not be accepted.”
The deaths were being investigated as the city’s ninth, 10th and 11th homicides of 2026, according to police. The shooting followed other recent gun violence in the Twin Cities, including a St. Paul shooting two days earlier that killed one person and wounded two others. Authorities had not established a connection between the cases.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the victims and determine their official causes of death. Police said the investigation remained active, and no information about a suspected motive or the circumstances before the gunfire had been released.
Author note: Last updated July 21, 2026.