St. Paul mass shooting: Grief, recovery and lawsuits loom 3 years later
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Three years after the mass shooting at a downtown St. Paul bar, families of victims and survivors are balancing the weight of grief and recovery as pending lawsuits continue to seek accountability.
Recounting the shooting
Wiley’s family, friends and survivors of the October 2021 mass shooting at the Truck Park bar recounted that night as "traumatic" and "preventable" during a recent interview with the FOX 9 Investigators.
Surveillance footage from inside the bar shows Marquisha "Kiki" Wiley surrounded by her friends and siblings enjoying a typical night out just minutes before the shooting started.
Kiki’s friend Ernest Whitmore, who was also shot in the arm and back, described it as "pure chaos."
"I just heard a pop and I look back and see everybody is just trampling over everybody," Whitmore said.
Enduring grief
Kiki was shot in the back and killed that night. More than a dozen others were injured.
"I miss her and I love her so much," said Beth Wiley, Kiki’s mother. "She had a beautiful spirit. She was a sweet, kind, caring person."
The 27-year-old veterinarian tech had a deep love for animals and for other people.
"I think she would want her story to be shared," Beth Wiley said. "Just in the blink of an eye – all of their lives just changed over something completely unnecessary."
Lingering trauma
After taking a bullet in the arm and back three years ago, Whitmore is constantly reminded of how his life has changed.
"I feel it every time I wake up, I see it when I take showers, it’s just there – like I can’t get away," Whitmore said. "You don’t know who you are outside of this."
The traumatic memories for Kiki’s friend group follow them every day. They routinely avoid driving anywhere near the site of the shooting.
Seeking accountability
Devondre Phillips and Terry Brown were both convicted for their roles in the shooting.
However, Kiki’s family recently filed a lawsuit accusing Truck Park of not having adequate security despite previous concerns about large and unruly crowds.
The lawsuit also targets retailer Fleet Farm for not doing enough to stop Jerome Horton Jr. from purchasing one of the guns used in the shooting.
Horton Jr. has since been convicted of making straw purchases, where he bought dozens of firearms, including for people who weren’t allowed to have them.
Several guns Horton Jr. purchased from Fleet Farm locations later turned up at crime scenes across the Twin Cities, according to court records.
"You shouldn’t be able to buy that many guns in such a short time span, there should be more flags on it and taken seriously," said Kiki’s sister Aundrea Wiley.
What Fleet Farm is saying
In a statement, an attorney representing Fleet Farm said it is "deeply saddened by the tragic shooting" but did not address the latest lawsuit.
The company has previously denied similar actions made by Minnesota’s Attorney General in a separate lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial next year and could dramatically change how the retailer does business.
The FOX 9 Investigators detailed the ongoing litigation earlier this year and also found the ATF has repeatedly warned Fleet Farm that firearms sold from its stores were turning up at crime scenes
What Truck Park bar is saying
The Truck Park bar remains open for business in downtown St. Paul.
While the owners have previously expressed their condolences following the shooting, they have not yet responded to FOX 9’s request for comment on the most recent allegations made against the company.
Hoping for change
Victim’s families, friends and survivors of the mass shooting all hope the various lawsuits will force change.
"This is not something that regularly happens to people who are ordinary or we should normalize," Whitmore said. "This is 100% preventable in so many ways."