Man charged in deadly shooting that stemmed from road rage dispute in St. Paul

A man who allegedly shot and killed someone in a fight that arose from road rage dispute Monday in St. Paul is now facing murder charges.

Court documents show 25-year-old Ian Loi Bursey of Minneapolis is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Tajai Evans.

A criminal complaint alleges Bursey had followed a Toyota Corolla in which Evans was a passenger from Interstate 35E to a tobacco shop on Dale Street in St. Paul after the two drivers had gotten into an argument at a red light.

The driver of the Corolla told investigators he had moved over a lane on the highway to make room for Bursey’s Hyundai Sonata, but the Sonata went ahead and brake-checked him. The driver said he got into a different lane and exited onto Maryland Avenue. While stopped, Bursey allegedly accused the other driver of cutting him off.

Bursey told investigators the other car had cut him off “about five times.” He added that when he confronted the other driver, the men in the car “laughed and pointed at him.”

After the exchange at the stoplight, the Corolla proceeded to head west down Maryland Avenue before turning onto Dale Street and eventually making a U-turn to get to a strip mall parking lot just north of Front Avenue, the criminal complaint states. Bursey allegedly followed them into the parking lot, threw something at the Corolla and pulled over nearby.

The two men inside the Corolla stopped at a tobacco shop in the strip mall and noticed Bursey’s Sonata. Evans allegedly walked up to the vehicle to confront Bursey and started punching him. After a few punches, Bursey grabbed a gun from his car and started shooting.

In a statement to investigators, Bursey claimed he fired the gun out of self-defense and did not mean to kill Evans. He also said he thought the other men might have had weapons because they “were holding their pockets and [acting] kind of sketchy,” the complaint states.

After the shooting, Evans got back in the Corolla, and the driver started heading toward the hospital before crashing near 12th and Cedar streets.

Officers arrived at the crash scene to see a nurse providing first aid on Evans, who was unconscious and not breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy determined he had been shot in the chest, forearm and thigh.

Bursey is currently in custody at the Ramsey County Jail. His first court appearance is set for Thursday.