A 37-year-old St. Paul man has been sentenced to three years of probation for exchanging a flurry of gunshots with another man outside a White Bear Lake bar in 2023.

Charles Edward Stevens-Thigpen was shot in the thigh and turned himself in to police two days after the shootout at Doc’s Landing, telling them it followed an argument over a spilled drink.

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

The charges say Kardell Baraka Otae Jackson fired off a shot at Stevens-Thigpen, who had rounded the corner of the bar, barely missing him. The two men fired 13 rounds at each other in the 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 three bullet holes were discovered in the bar’s roofline.

In July, Stevens-Thigpen pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to second-degree assault.

Jackson, 51, of St. Paul, faces the same charge and also two counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. His case is scheduled to go before a jury March 19.

Surveillance video

According to the charging documents, officers were called to the bar along White Bear Avenue just north of Interstate 694 shortly before 1 a.m. Sept. 24, 2023. The shooters had fled but were soon identified as Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson.

Surveillance video showed that Stevens-Thigpen and Jackson got into a “heated dispute” inside the bar. 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 fired off a shot at Stevens-Thigpen, who took cover behind a Tesla, and the two men exchanged gunfire, the charges say.

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.

Turned over gun

Police say a man 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 didn’t answer their 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 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.

“The man told me that he got something for my (expletive) ass and he’s gonna pop me,” Stevens-Thigpen said at his July 8 plea hearing.

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.

“I believe four shots were fired before I fired my first shot,” Stevens-Thigpen said at his plea hearing.

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

‘Imperfect self-defense’

Stevens-Thigpen entered a straight plea to the felony charge, meaning there was no agreement between the defense and the prosecution on the terms of his sentence.

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A conviction carries up to seven years in prison. Since he had no previous felony convictions, the state guideline sentence was a three-year prison term.

In arguing for a downward departure, his attorney, Alex Kyes, told Judge Andrew Gordon the offense is “substantially less serious” than the typical offense as it constituted “imperfect self-defense” because his client was not the initial and primary aggressor. He noted he cooperated with law enforcement.

Gordon imposed a stay of imposition, meaning the conviction will become a misdemeanor as long as he follows conditions of his three years of supervised probation. The prosecution did not object to the departure.