A 16-year-old Hopkins boy has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree homicide in connection with the fatal shooting of Billy Ray Robles, a 19-year-old St. Paul man shot Saturday in Inver Grove Heights during a fight between two groups of party bus passengers.
The suspect was arrested Monday night after an interview with investigators, Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Paul Schnell said Tuesday. The teen, who has past connections to St. Paul, went to the Inver Grove Heights police station with his father, whom he was living with in Hopkins, Schnell said.
The suspect’s name was not released Tuesday because an investigation is continuing and the Dakota County attorney’s office is considering criminal charges, Schnell said. The teen remained at the Dakota County Juvenile Center on Tuesday.
Schnell would not say how the suspect was involved in the shooting. He said the investigation was in the “early stages” and includes forensic testing of evidence collected at the scene.
Evidence shows multiple guns were fired, but it’s unclear if the shots came from one group of people or both, Schnell said. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the foot and later released from Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
“We had probable cause to believe that he had involvement in this incident and we still have evidence to sort through,” Schnell said of the suspect in custody.
Investigators are looking for at least one other person of interest, Schnell said.
Investigators have determined that the fight and shooting followed a dispute between two groups of teens and young men on the party bus. Some witnesses have said rival gang affiliation was the motive, Schnell said.
Inver Grove Heights police were called to the parking lot of the AMC Showplace 16 on Bishop Avenue about 1:30 a.m. Saturday on a report of a fight and shots fired. When officers arrived, they encountered what they reported as a “chaotic scene” of 40 to 50 people where a party bus was dropping off passengers.
Officers found Robles unresponsive with a gunshot wound. A 16-year-old boy had facial injuries from a physical assault. Both were transported to Regions Hospital, where Robles was pronounced dead.
The 16-year-old gunshot victim was found in a vehicle stopped by police on U.S. 52, near Butler Avenue in West St. Paul, shortly after the shooting.
Robles was described by his cousin as an aspiring rapper who grew up on St. Paul’s West Side and had attended Humboldt High School.