One of two men charged with exchanging a flurry of gunshots last year outside a White Bear Lake bar following an argument over a spilled drink has pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.

Charles Edward Stevens-Thigpen, who was shot in the leg during the Sept. 24 shootout at Doc’s Landing, entered the plea to the charge this week in Ramsey County District Court and faces up to seven years in prison, court records show. The 36-year-old from St. Paul is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 30.

Charles Edward Stevens-Thigpen and Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson, 50, of St. Paul, faces the same assault charge and also two counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. His case is scheduled to go before a jury Aug. 8.

The charges say the two men fired 13 rounds at each other in the bar’s parking lot, including one that grazed a 48-year-old man who was sitting in the bar. A bullet was found lodged in a dart machine, and the three bullet holes were discovered in the bar’s roofline.

Another round, as surveillance video showed, nearly struck a woman who had run toward Jackson.

Officers were called to the bar along White Bear Avenue just north of Interstate 694 shortly before 1 a.m. The shooters had fled, but were soon identified as Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson, according to the charges against them.

The surveillance video showed that Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson got into a “heated dispute” inside the bar, the charges say. At one point, Jackson held a pool cue as if he was going to strike Stevens-Thigpen with it. Two women and a man intervened and blocked Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson from one another.

Jackson ran to his Chevrolet Tahoe with Stevens-Thigpen following a few seconds behind with a pistol in his hands. Jackson allegedly fired off a shot at Stevens-Thigpen, who had rounded the corner of the bar, barely missing him. Stevens-Thigpen took cover behind a Tesla, and the two men exchanged gunfire.

Stevens-Thigpen nearly shot a woman who ran toward the Tahoe. Jackson helped her get into the SUV before he again shot at Stevens-Thigpen. Stevens-Thigpen “grimaced” and began to favor his right leg, the charges say.

As Jackson and the woman fled the parking lot, Stevens-Thigpen fired three to four more rounds at the Tahoe. He ran to a GMC Denali and also fled.

Spilled drink on ex’s sister

Police say a man had called 911 to report he was trying to drive to the hospital after he had been shot in the leg. Officers tried to make contact with the caller, but he never answered return calls. The phone number was associated with Stevens-Thigpen.

Stevens-Thigpen voluntarily went to the police department two days later, turning over a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun to police when he arrived.

Stevens-Thigpen told police he was at the bar when he bumped into a table, knocking over a glass of soda onto his ex-girlfriend’s sister. He said that caused an argument with the woman, who was Jackson’s girlfriend, and Jackson intervened.

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Stevens-Thigpen said he went to his Denali to get his 9mm as a “precaution.” He said when he saw Jackson in the parking lot, Jackson fired at him. He returned gunfire.

He said he went to a doctor the next day because of severe bleeding from his injury, and that his family convinced him to talk to police.

Jackson was arrested Sept. 27 in the parking lot of his workplace. His Tahoe had three bullet holes to its passenger side. He denied getting into an argument at Doc’s Landing, saying he tried to defuse the situation and left to avoid trouble.

He denied firing a gun at the bar. Officers executed a search warrant on his Tahoe and recovered a Glock 9mm handgun, the charges say.