Two people are hospitalized; son, 55, is jailed
By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 07/17/2010 01:10:37 AM CDT
Two people were killed and two others were hospitalized Friday night after a shooting at a home in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood, police said.
Pat McHugh, 55, who neighbors said lived at the home with his mother, was arrested nearby after a short chase, witnesses said.
He was booked into Ramsey County jail on suspicion of murder, police said. No other suspects were being sought.
The shooting was reported to police at 9:02 p.m. Officers found two people dead at the home. Their identities were not released.
Two people, including the suspect's mother, Kathleen McHugh, 80, were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Their conditions were not released. The identity of the second person was not released.
Neighbors said they heard no shots and became aware of the shooting only after ambulances arrived about 9:15 p.m. at the home at 1825 Munster Ave.
They said they suspected the shooting followed a family dispute.
The neighbors said they say four people taken from the home on stretchers. Kathleen McHugh was among them, her head bandaged.
Moment earlier, they said, five police cars were seen following her son in a "slow-speed chase" as he drove his van down Edgcumbe Road past the house.
He turned at St. Paul Avenue and reached Davern Street before police stopped him.
"He wasn't going too fast, maybe 30, but he wasn't slowing down," said Jon Jensen, who lives in an apartment nearby. "They boxed him in. .... There was a roadblock up
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ahead for him. One of the police cars had its back end completely smashed in."
Police released few details.
Neighbors said the suspect lived alone with his mother, as he had for most, if not all, of his life. He had a younger brother and two older sisters but was not married and didn't have a girlfriend, said neighbor Susan Gibbons, who lives across the street.
"He's never moved out," said Gene Spray, a neighbor who went to high school with Pat McHugh. "I don't think he's had a job in a very long time."
"They've always kept to themselves. The sons took care of her (Kathleen McHugh). She had a stroke about a week ago," said neighbor Susan Grzywinski.
After the stroke, the house was a source of friction among the brothers and sisters, Grzywinski and other neighbors said.
Pat McHugh and his brother often fought, said Spray, who also used to work with the brother.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461.
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