Minnesota’s Park Tavern Makes Reopening Plans After Tragedy On Patio
On Sunday, September 1, tragedy struck at the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park when two people were killed and three were injured when a man, who has since been identified as 56-year-old Steven Frane Bailey, drove his car through the Park Tavern's outside patio area.
Security video reportedly captured Bailey entering the restaurant parking lot on Sunday evening but not going inside. He first attempted to park before driving into a crowd of about 30 people on the outdoor patio, including a group of nurses from Methodist Hospital who were on the patio celebrating the final shift.
The two victims have been identified as Kristina Folkerts, a mother of 3 young girls who worked as a server at The Park Tavern, and Gabe Harvey, who worked as an intensive care coordinator at Methodist Hospital. The Minnesota hospital has since confirmed that four more nurses were among the injured as the group was there to celebrate the last shift of a coworker.
Steven Fran Bailey has been arrested on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide.
The Park Tavern initially announced that it would be closed until further notice as they "support and care" for their staff and neighbors. They provided an update Tuesday evening.
The Park Tavern Announces Reopening Plans
In a Facebook post on the evening of September 3, the Park Tavern announced it was looking forward to "serving our community and seeing friendly faces again." They also thanked everyone for the overwhelming support for their staff and victims during what has been a difficult time.
The Park Tavern will officially reopen at noon on Wednesday, September 4. They request patience and kindness as they attempt to move forward.
GoFundMe Pages Established For The Victims
Since the tragedy, GoFundMe pages have been established for Kristina Folkerts & Gabe Harvey.
The Park Tavern started a fundraiser for Kristina Folkerts, stating "Kristina was a loving mother of 3 young girls and friend to many in the community. We are at a deep loss and thank you for your support during this challenging time."
The fundraiser has a current goal of $175,000 and as of Tuesday night, it had surpassed $153,000.
Sara Vandenberg and Stephanie Jurgensen, coworkers and friends of Gabe Harvey established a 'Gabe Harvey Memorial Fund' on GoFundMe. It states that there "was not a soul that Gabe met that he didn’t leave an impression on. He always had a smile and a kind word for everyone."
The fundraiser has a current goal of $75,000 and as of Tuesday night, it had surpassed $32,000. Funds donated will given to Gabe’s partner Denzel for funeral expenses and living expenses as Gabe and Denzel recently became new homeowners.
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