Charges: Suspect with multiple warrants shot, critically injured man in downtown St. Paul

Emily Baude KSTP

William Anthony Maki Credit: Ramsey County Jail

A St. Paul man who had multiple warrants out for his arrest is facing assault and weapons charges after a shooting in downtown St. Paul on Monday.

Twenty-year-old William Anthony Maki was charged on Wednesday with two counts of illegal possession of a firearm and one count of second-degree assault, according to a criminal complaint.

On Oct. 31, Maki pleaded guilty to previous charges of felony threats of violence for firing a BB gun at an occupied car. Later, on Nov. 16, Maki pleaded guilty to violation of controlled substances, but that plea wasn’t accepted because the judge delayed the conviction in a stay of adjudication.

Court records state on Jan. 8, Maki didn’t show up at his sentencing for threats of violence, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On Jan. 10, Maki failed to show up at his sentencing for controlled substances, and a warrant was issued again.

Then, on Jan. 15 just before 4 p.m., St. Paul officers were sent to an area near the intersection of Fifth Street East and Cedar Street on a report of a man who had been shot in the abdomen.

At the scene, law enforcement found the victim, who said he didn’t know who shot him. He was brought to Regions Hospital in critical condition, the complaint states.

Officers spoke to the victim’s girlfriend, who said she was crossing the street with the victim when he was shot.

The victim’s girlfriend added that the shooter was a man named Will who was walking with a woman named Jasmine, who reportedly lived at the Press House apartments down the block. Another witness corroborated this to law enforcement.

Surveillance video of the shooting captured the shooter walking into the Press House apartments with two women after the incident, and leaving about 10 minutes later, the complaint states.

Police searched an apartment that the shooter and two women had gone into and recovered the shoes worn by the shooter, a Walther 9 mm handgun that was reported as stolen from Hennepin County and a large amount of black hair on the floor, charging documents add.

Officers arrested the two women and Maki, who had shaved his head between the time of the shooting and his arrest. Maki told law enforcement he had seen the victim around but didn’t know him and denied being in the apartment with the two women.

The victim later identified Maki in a lineup, the complaint added.

Maki had a first appearance in court at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.