Police say two teenagers are in custody in connection with a Sunday morning shootout in the parking lot of a St. Paul grocery store.

St. Paul police Sgt. Mike Ernster gave the following details:

About 10:45 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to calls of a shooting in the Cub Foods parking lot at 1177 Clarence Street in St. Paul.

When officers arrived they found shell casings and gunshot damage to vehicles, but they did not find anyone who had been wounded. During their investigation, officers learned that two males had exchanged gunfire with a third male.

Their investigation led detectives to a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old man in the 500 block of Minnehaha Avenue East. Both were arrested in connection with the shooting. During a follow-up search warrant, officers recovered two handguns along with other evidence at the residence.

The third shooter has not yet been found.

Police also arrested a 20-year-old man who was with the two teens at the time of the shooting. He was being held on an unrelated weapons-related warrant out of Texas, police said.

Police ask anyone with information on the shooting to call 651-291-1111.

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For the first time since September, Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus will have a separate defensive coordinator on his staff.

The Bears announced Saturday that they hired Buffalo Bills assistant head coach and defensive line coach Eric Washington to be their new DC. Washington previously coached with the Bears from 2008-10 under Lovie Smith and served as the defensive line coach in 2010 with defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, an Eberflus mentor.

Washington coached the Bills defensive line since 2020 and was promoted to senior defensive assistant in 2022 and assistant head coach in 2023. He has two years of defensive coordinator experience with the Carolina Panthers in 2018-19 under Ron Rivera. Before that, he coached the Panthers defensive line for seven seasons.

The Bills defense ranked in the top 10 in multiple categories in 2023, including total yards and passing yards allowed per game, sack rate, interception rate and points allowed per game.

Washington is considered a strong teacher and leader who is detailed in his focus on fundamentals and will be able to help the coaching staff schematically, a source said.

“He is a great communicator with elite leadership skills and he will enhance our current defensive staff,” Eberflus said in a statement Saturday. “His track record speaks for itself with coordinator experience as well as expertise in the area of defensive line.”

Eberflus did not fill the defensive coordinator position in September when Alan Williams resigned for what sources told the Tribune was conduct-related reasons, though Eberflus did add senior defensive analyst Phil Snow to help scout opponents. Eberflus took over play calling, and with the help of the addition of defensive end Montez Sweat, helped the defense turn around from a rough start.

Eberflus said this month that he still was determining whether he would continue to call plays after bringing in a coordinator, but NFL Network reported Saturday that the expectation is Eberflus will remain in that role.

“It’s something I’ve stated I love to do,” Eberflus said this month. “But as we talk to these candidates, we’re going to keep everything open right now.”

Washington will help ease the load for Eberflus, who noted during the season he was working later nights to fill both roles. Eberflus said he was looking for a coordinator with high character who was a strong motivator. He wanted someone who could lead the defensive room while Eberflus addresses other areas of the team.

“My family and I are beyond excited to be returning to the Chicago Bears,” Washington said in a statement. “It is humbling to have the opportunity to contribute to one of the most esteemed sports organizations in the world.”

While the Bears fired five offensive coaches — including coordinator Luke Getsy — when their 7-10 season ended, Eberflus opted to keep the defensive staff intact. Washington joins a group that includes cornerbacks coach/defensive passing game coordinator Jon Hoke, defensive line coach Travis Smith, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and safeties coach Andre Curtis.

The Bears finished 12th with 324.2 yards allowed per game and had the top-ranked rushing defense, allowing just 86.4 yards per game on the ground. They also finished with a league-best 3.57% interception rate after totaling 22 interceptions to go with six fumble-recovery takeaways.

Their passing defense, ranked 25th with 237.8 yards allowed per game, and their league-worst 4.86% sack rate need improvement.

Washington joins what the Bears hope is an ascending group. He played tight end at Grambling State and also coached defensive line at Northwestern (2004-07) and Ohio (2001-03).

The Bears reportedly interviewed at least three other coaches to join their defensive staff: former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry, Tennessee Titans assistant head coach/defensive line Terrell Williams and Titans defensive pass game coordinator Chris Harris.

Washington will be the Bears’ third major hire since the season ended. They have announced the additions of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph. They still need to hire running backs and wide receivers coaches.

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Chicago White Sox players participated in an obstacle course with kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago during a surprise visit Thursday in Bridgeport.

The Sox experienced several hurdles last season on the way to 101 losses. They’ll attempt to find the path to improvement with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to spring training Feb. 14.

Manager Pedro Grifol isn’t thinking about the first game of the season or beyond.

“I’m thinking about the first week of spring training and we’ve got to win that first week,” Grifol said at Thursday’s event. “We’ve got to go into spring training and prepare ourselves to win baseball games. We’ll take it five to seven days at a time and we’ll continue to evaluate the week and correct the things we need to correct and go from there.

“There’s a lot of work to be done before that first game. There’s a lot of conversations between our staff and the players and we’ll be ready to play come day one.”

There have been pitching and hitting summits since the final out of the woeful 2023 season.

“Once that last game was over, the calendar changed for us,” Grifol said. “There’s been really good communication. (General manager) Chris (Getz) installed the pillars he wants the organization to abide by. I’ll have my style of play I want to see on the field and the players will be a part of the process.

“There is a lot of things that are different (this spring compared to last). The energy in spring training I thought last year was OK, but it’s hard to evaluate it because we had so many guys who weren’t there (with the World Baseball Classic taking place). But that’s something we’re going to focus on, the details are something we’re going to focus on.”

Grifol knows it has to be more than just talk.

“When I put myself in the eyes of the fans, we’ve got to prove it on the field,” he said. “I can stand here today and say, ‘We’re going to do this or do that.’ That’s not what this is about. This is about us preparing ourselves to play and prove to our fans — they had a difficult year last year — that we’re going to come out and play a different style of baseball.”

Grifol said he’s most excited about getting to spring training “because the energy we have, that our players are showing, the energy that our front office and coaching staff is showing. We have five new coaches on our staff. And plus what we did last year. We’re motivated, we’re excited to come back and prove to this league that we’re capable of doing some good things. I just feel it, there is a good vibe.”

Grifol likes the moves the team has made this offseason and anticipates a lot of competition at camp.

“Last year we went into spring training probably six or seven starters deep, this year you’re probably looking at 15-16 starters,” he said. “Some of these guys are young, some ended the year in Double A, some in Triple A. Just to look at our depth compared to where we were at this time last year is really encouraging for us.”

One of those experienced starters could be Dylan Cease, who has been mentioned in trade speculation throughout the offseason. Grifol said Cease has been “unfazed” by the chatter.

“I talked to him yesterday, it was a great conversation and we talked about him (pitching) opening day,” Grifol said. “And he’s preparing himself for that and he feels great. He’s throwing pens, he doesn’t have any soreness, he’s excited about this club. He’s excited about the guys we’ve acquired, excited about our catching. Brian Bannister is part of the organization (as senior adviser to pitching), he’s excited to get to work with him and (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz).

“He’s unfazed by all these trade talks and all this stuff. If it happens, he understands the business. But like I told him and he told me, right now he’s our opening-day starter and get ready to do that.”

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