11-08-2025
Man accused of fatally shooting bar patron outside Midway Saloon in St. Paul
A 29-year-old man is facing murder charges in a St. Paul shooting that killed a man outside the Midway Saloon in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday.
Davarius Lamonte Clark of Minneapolis is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County on Friday.
Charges say Metro Transit officers were on the light rail platform near the bar on the 1500 block of University Avenue around 12:20 a.m. when they heard a gunshot.
Officers ran to the bar and found a 44-year-old man who had been shot in the chest on the ground, according to court documents. He was taken to the hospital where he later died.
Three men outside the bar, including Clark, were detained. Charges say Clark repeatedly told officers, "It's my gun," and said, "I wouldn't have shot someone for no reason, but do what you gotta do."
Police found a Glock 9mm handgun in Clark's waistband, court documents say. Officers also found a single shell casing on the sidewalk near where Clark was arrested.
The bar manager allegedly told police Clark argued with the man who was shot because the man brought his bike inside the bar. The manager said the man could have his bike in the bar as long as he kept an eye on it, but Clark continued to argue with the man, charges say.
Surveillance video showed the man leaving the bar with his bike, and the man and Clark arguing. Footage also "appeared to show" the man spitting twice at Clark outside the bar, and Clark later raising both arms and pointing something at the man, who then fell to the ground, charges say.
Clark allegedly told investigators that the man called him a racial slur when leaving the bar with his bike, and that the man spat on his face and shirt. Clark said the slur didn't "really factor into his anger because it's just a word," according to court documents, and later asked the man to not spit on him again. Clark allegedly said the man then spat on him again.
According to charges, Clark said he "blacked out after being spat on a second time and didn't remember anything until he was being placed in the back of a squad car."
Charges say that when officers asked who had the gun, Clark said, "I had to fess up. I had to tell them because there was a guy here shot, and somebody here has to say something."
Clark allegedly told investigators he put the gun back in his waistband by the time police got to the bar.
If convicted, he faces up to 80 years in prison.
