A fundraising account has been created to aid the father of a 23-year-old law clerk shot to death last week at a law firm in St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood.

Chase Passauer of Minneapolis, a clerk in the North Star Criminal Defense law firm on Selby Avenue, was gunned down Thursday by a man police described as a disgruntled former client.

A criminal complaint was filed Friday against Ryan David Petersen, 37, claiming he had been unhappy with how the firm had been handling his criminal case. He also is accused of punching a Woodbury police officer who was arresting him for DWI in November.

The GoFundMe account is asking for $25,000 to help with expenses that Passauer’s father Christopher will incur.

“Chase’s father is a Gulf War veteran and he needs your help with final expenses and time off work for hearings, the trial, sentencing and who knows what else,” the page says.

“Chase was a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota,” the GoFundMe page said. “He was working hard every day to become an attorney. When not at work he regularly traveled the country umpiring college baseball games. Chase was a good young man with a bright future. Chase’s life came to an abrupt and violent end at the hands of a career criminal who was angry because someone didn’t answer the phone when he called. He stormed into the office and fired 6 shots at the first person he saw.”

John Regenscheid of Andover, a cousin to Christopher Passauer and second cousin to Chase Passauer, created the account.

Regenscheid was still reeling from the loss Sunday. “It’s hard to comprehend,” he said.

When Chase Passauer started college, he’d already accumulated college credits during his time at Hastings High School, Regenscheid said, so he was able to complete college quickly.

“He was such a go-getter. He was a good kid, working hard and trying to do the right thing, and then he was just sitting at his desk and someone walks in and kills him?”

An attorney with the firm, Daniel Adkins, had recently began representing Petersen.

According to the complaint, Petersen fired Adkins by text message Thursday and demanded a refund. When his calls were not returned, Petersen thought he was being ignored and showed up in person. Adkins, referred to in the complaint as DSA, was in court at the time of the messages and could not respond.

Adkins and another attorney found Passauer’s body when they returned to the office Thursday afternoon.

Regenscheid asked Christopher Passauer’s permission to set up the GoFundMe account Sunday morning. Regenscheid said he was worried about how costly it will be for Passauer, who works for a railroad company in Wisconsin, to take time off work to attend hearings and the trial.

“He’s definitely going to want to be there at those,” Regenscheid said.