The University of St. Thomas’ St. Paul campus was unintentionally included in a shelter-in-place alert Tuesday morning while Ramsey County authorities searched for a homicide suspect in Roseville, who was later apprehended.
“It’s an incident that’s happening in Roseville, so it doesn’t affect anybody in St. Paul. We’re trying to correct it as quick as we can,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster, public information officer, St. Paul Police Department.
At around 11:10 a.m., St. Thomas Public Safety wrote in an email, “Ramsey County sent alert unintentionally. There is no immediate risk to either of the St. Thomas campuses.”
The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday in what appears to be a world first.
The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an announcement on an official city social media account.
Scientists hope that such “needle-free” vaccines will make vaccination more accessible in countries with fragile health systems because they are easier to administer. They also may persuade people who don’t like getting a shot in the arm to get inoculated.
China wants more people to get booster shots before it relaxes strict pandemic restrictions that are holding back the economy and are increasingly out of sync with the rest of the world. As of mid-October, 90% of Chinese were fully vaccinated and 57% had received a booster shot.
A man who was intoxicated when he drove his SUV into a crowd of protesters in Minneapolis last year, killing one and injuring several others, has pleaded guilty to murder and assault just as his trial was set to begin.
Nicholas Kraus, 36, in a plea deal with prosecutors, admitted Monday to killing Deona Knajdek, one of the protesters who gathered in the city’s Uptown neighborhood after members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force fatally shot Winston Boogie Smith Jr., a 32-year-old Black man. The 31-year-old Minneapolis woman also was known as Deona Marie Erickson.
Prosecutors said Kraus was visibly intoxicated when he sped up and tried to “jump” a car that protesters were using as a barricade, pushing it into the group in June 2021.
As part of the plea deal, Kraus’ second-degree murder charge was changed from “intentional” to “unintentional,” and one of two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon was dropped. Kraus pleaded guilty to the second assault charge. He could face more than 17 years in prison at sentencing in November.
Mackenna Meyers can be reached at meye6697@stthomas.edu.