DevilDrugChristLord, Zimmer charged after Wednesday morning shooting in St. Cloud

Show Caption Hide Caption St. Cloud Police respond to shooting near University Avenue St. Cloud Police closed off two blocks in response to a shooting just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 near 15th Ave. South and University Drive

ST. CLOUD — Police have identified the suspects arrested in a Wednesday morning shooting, according to a press release from St. Cloud Police Commander Brett A. Mushatt.

pooG DaBleed DevilDrugChristLord, 26, and JB Daniel Zimmer, 27, are being held in the Stearns County Jail.

After DevilDrugChristLord was booked into jail, police learned he had legally changed his name from Jerome Demond Jones in April.

A criminal complaint filed in Stearns County District Court lists DevilDrugChristLord as a Minneapolis resident and Zimmer as a Cokato resident.

DevilDrugChristLord faces two felony charges, including second-degree attempted murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm after conviction of a prior violent crime.

Zimmer was charged with aiding an offender after the fact, also a felony.

The shooting

A 42-year-old woman was shot multiple times just before 9 a.m. Wednesday near University Drive and 15th Avenue South. She was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The woman's name and current condition has not been released.

According to the criminal complaints against DevilDrugChristLord and Zimmer, police first responded to a reported hit and run. The reporting party said a red minivan pulled out in front of her as she was traveling east on University Drive South. She was unable to stop and collided with the van.

The woman reported she made eye contact with the driver, who she described as a white male and who continued east on University Drive. She provided police with a license plate number.

Police then received a second call "within minutes," according to the complaint, this time reporting a woman found south of University Drive on 15th Avenue South complaining of gunshot wounds. When police responded, they found a woman who appeared to have been shot multiple times, was bleeding from her mouth and had trouble breathing.

Witnesses reported hearing four to five gunshots and people yelling. Police also found a blood trail that led from where the woman was found toward shattered automobile glass at University Drive and 16th Avenue South.

The aftermath

In an ambulance, police retrieved a fired bullet and observed multiple bullet wounds.

The woman said that "pooG" (pronounced "Poo-JEE") shot her while she was riding in the van, after which she jumped out, ran and was shot again. She said the van belonged to "JB," and the three of them had stayed overnight in a Walmart parking lot. According to the woman, DevilDrugChristLord had a Remington .22 caliber rifle.

Police received a call about suspicious activity at a Holiday Station Store in Becker after putting out an alert for the red minivan. The caller said he saw one white and one black man throwing away a woman's purse, and that the van's front window was missing. He provided a license plate number, which matched the one reported by the woman following the hit-and-run.

Police found the purse and its contents in the trash. It contained a letter addressed to the woman who was shot.

The arrests

Around 9:50 a.m., DevilDrugChristLord and Zimmer were arrested without incident after their vehicle was located near Becker. After searching the red minivan, police found 13 .22 caliber discharged cartridge casings as well as a Ruger .22 semi-automatic rifle.

When police interviewed Zimmer, he said DevilDrugChristLord had a rifle that he test-fired several times while they were together.

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According to the criminal complaints, in the van at 16th Avenue South and University Drive South, DevilDrugChristLord pressed the barrel of the gun against the woman's left arm and fired, Zimmer said. The woman left the van, after which DevilDrugChirstLord continued to shoot at her. Zimmer accelerated and was hit by a car, after which he drove east on University Drive and the two dumped the contents of the woman's purse at the Holiday Station in Becker.

The complaint said DevilDrugChristLord admitted in an interview to having the gun in the minivan. He was convicted for third-degree assault in Hennepin County District Court in May 2012.

DevilDrugChristLord and Zimmer were scheduled to make their first court appearances Friday, Dec. 20.

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