Authorities have identified the woman who was shot and killed Wednesday evening in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood.

Carrie Shobe Kwok, 66, of St. Paul was kneeling in the street and working on an art project when police say a man shot her.

The suspected gunman — identified by family members as 29-year-old Seantrell Murdock — was tracked to a home in Belle Plaine. As St. Paul police were staking out the address Thursday morning, Murdock emerged with a gun in his hand, and two officers shot him. He was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center but did not survive.

Kwok was a member of the Lowertown Lofts Artists Cooperative. Members of the co-op told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she was a “beloved member” of the group. They described her as a “really sparkly person” who specialized in textiles and was looking forward to what would have been her second art crawl.

“Our community is in shock and grief as we grapple with the unimaginable,” the co-op said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Julie Shobe remembers her sister, Carrie Kwok, as a gentle soul.

“She helped tons of people. She always wanted to take care of others,” she recalls. “I thought I would die before her. Terribly sad.”

Shobe says Kwok had a creative spark that led her to the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative in St. Paul.

“She had a lot of interests,” she explains. “She made clothes out of vintage fabrics or she repurposed antiques. She made shirts out of old tablecloths, like women’s wear.”

At the co-op, fellow artists spoke fondly of Kwok.

“The curiosity that I mentioned earlier was there,” Ben Krywosz, the president of the cooperative, told reporters. “She loved life.”

“She was like sparkly,” added Tara Tieso. “Every time she talked to you, you saw little sparkly things around her.”

Just feet away is the mural where Kwok was working when she was killed.

Police are calling it a random shooting.

Several artists were there with her.

“As she passed, she was just in a place that she loved so, so very much,” Tieso says. “She was peaceful knowing that she was surrounded by people who loved her.”  

Kwok shared that love with her family, including two children and four grandchildren.

“It’s extremely difficult,” Shobe says. “It’s unimaginable.”

She says the family is leaning on their faith that Kwok was a devout Christian and a strong believer.

“So, our family is pretty much resting on that,” Shobe says. “There’s a lot of people praying for us, and I’m thinking God’s presence is comforting everybody, I’m hoping.”