St. Paul man charged in shooting outside Apple Valley restaurant

“I wish to commend the Apple Valley Police Department for their work in the investigation of this incident that led to the apprehension of the suspect. I wish the shooting victim continued success throughout his recovery,” Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena said in a statement.

According to a criminal complaint, police believe the following occurred:

Police were dispatched to the restaurant at 2:20 a.m. Jan. 15 for a reported shooting. However, when police arrived the people involved with the shooting were not present. Witnesses told police the shooting happened outside in the parking lot and the people involved had left the area.

Officers searched the parking lot and found keys on a lanyard, an inhaler, a lighter and a package of cigarette rolling papers on the ground. A small blood spot was also found on the snow, the complaint said.

Police received information at 3:30 a.m. the same day that a person with a gunshot wound to his leg was being treated at M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville.

Officers spoke with the victim's girlfriend who said she and her boyfriend were walking to her vehicle that was parked on the east side of the restaurant parking lot, the complaint said.

The woman said she saw a group of men that she described as “biker types” yelling and that restaurant employees were trying to intervene. The male suspect, later identified as Ryman, walked away from this group to a row of cars and the woman lost sight of him. When the victim and his girlfriend were at the rear passenger side of her vehicle, she noticed Ryman at her right side. The victim walked in front of his girlfriend and Ryman allegedly started to wave a pistol, according to court documents.

Ryman allegedly pointed the gun at the victim and chased him. The victim’s girlfriend said she did not hear Ryman say anything and then she heard a gunshot. Her boyfriend hit the ground and she ran to the driver’s side door of the vehicle to seek cover. Ryman then allegedly ran away and got into a passenger vehicle that drove out of the parking lot.

The woman drove her boyfriend to Fairview Ridges. She said he was bleeding heavily while he was in her vehicle. The victim was shot in the left leg just above his knee. The woman told police that her boyfriend lost some property from his pocket and the items recovered by police were consistent with what he was missing, the complaint states.

Police searched the woman’s vehicle but recovered no firearm and found blood on the front passenger seat.

Officers located Ryman on Jan. 19 and he allegedly told police he was at the restaurant in Apple Valley at closing time on Jan. 15. He also allegedly identified himself in the surveillance videos at the establishment, the complaint says.

According to court records, Ryman has previously been convicted of a fifth-degree controlled substance crime in Ramsey County, a felon in possession of a firearm in Anoka County and he was adjudicated a delinquent for second-degree assault Ramsey County.