A 21-year-old St. Paul man linked to a vast spree of violent robberies and carjackings in the Twin Cities has now pleaded guilty to federal charges that also include possessing a stolen handgun.

Ricardo Rydell Walker, Jr. entered a guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court that included admitting to stealing a sport-utility vehicle after striking the owner in the head with a handgun June 28, 2022. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Walker also admitted to aiding and abetting three other carjackings that took place between 2021 and June of this year — the latter taking place while Walker was in jail on his federal charges.

His convictions carry a maximum 15-year federal prison sentence, but prosecutors have agreed not to request a sentence above 6 1/2 years. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez has not yet scheduled a sentencing date.

A message seeking comment has been left with the federal defender representing Walker.

According to court records, Walker was arrested in Maplewood after police and Ramsey County deputies found him and his accomplices sleeping inside a different stolen car than the vehicle he carjacked six days earlier. Walker rammed a nearby squad car after being stirred awake and fled onto public roads before colliding with another vehicle. Police arrested Walker and others following a brief foot chase.

Police also found Walker in possession of a Springfield Armory Hellcat 9mm handgun. After tracing the firearm’s serial number, officers discovered that the gun had been reported stolen out of Minneapolis. Walker later told a detective that he bought the handgun from an unknown man in Minneapolis a day before his arrest.

Walker’s crime spree netted criminal charges in multiple counties before his case went federal. The June 2022 carjacking followed three violent robberies on June 28 that took place on the Augsburg and University of Minnesota campuses and at a West St. Paul apartment complex. According to charges, Walker and his accomplices pulled off another robbery in West St. Paul earlier on the morning of his eventual arrest.

Walker’s penchant for armed robbery began in February 2021, less than two months after he turned 18. Within a year, one criminal complaint read, officers said they were “well-acquainted” with Walker and at least one of his accomplices for “having been involved in numerous robberies/carjackings. [They] were known to display firearms and known to target expensive vehicles.”

NEW YORK — This Thanksgiving, solar storms may produce faint auroras across the northern rim of the United States.

Pale auroras may be seen across many northern states Thursday and Friday, but they may be brief and and seeing them will depend on how intense the solar storms get, NOAA meteorologist Mike Bettwy said in an email.

Much of the following states are best positioned for potential auroras: Washington, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine. Northern parts of Idaho, Wyoming, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire may also see auroras.

Space weather experts say auroras could be visible from 10 p.m. EST Thursday to 1 a.m. Friday EST, though it’s difficult to pin down an exact window. Updated forecasts may be available as the event draws closer on NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center website or an aurora forecasting app.

To spy the spectacle, wait for clear skies to get dark and then go outside, ideally away from bright city lights. Taking a picture with a smartphone camera may also reveal hints of the aurora that aren’t visible to the naked eye.

The sun is currently at the maximum phase of its 11-year cycle, making solar surges and northern lights more frequent. Earlier this week, the sun shot a pulse of high-energy plasma towards Earth.

The active period is expected to last for at least another year, though scientists won’t know when solar activity peaked until months after the fact, according to NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Experts don’t expect major communication disruptions from this week’s solar storm.

Officials on Wednesday publicly identified the man who was fatally shot outside a Minneapolis gas station this week.

Hussanee Abdul-Malik Harris, 23, of Minneapolis, was shot in the back Monday at the Full Stop Gas & Food at 1818 Lowry Av. N. and died that same day at North Memorial Health Hospital, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Police said no arrests have been made as of Wednesday afternoon in connection with this homicide.

The shooting occurred about 11:45 a.m., when someone approached Harris, words were exchanged and gunfire erupted, police said.

This block in the Jordan neighborhood has earned a reputation for drug dealing, prostitution and, occasionally, gunfire in recent years — with neighbors singling out the gas station on the corner as a longtime magnet for trouble.

Police calls to the business number in the hundreds since Jan. 1, records show, mainly for directed patrols, various disturbances and drug activity. But officers have also responded at least 15 times to reports of a person with a firearm, shots fired calls, assaults and robberies on the property this year.

In 2020, a teenager was killed and another person wounded when a dispute between two groups escalated into gunfire. A few weeks earlier, a 48-year-old man died after being shot while sitting inside a car near N. Logan and Lowry avenues.

The previous year, 16-year-old Caleb Livingston suffered permanent paralysis and was left in a near-vegetative state after being shot in the head while on a quick detour at the Full Stop to fill his gas tank. The boy was in Minneapolis, visiting from Illinois, when a brief confrontation erupted near the pumps.