Man plows into outside patio of Minnesota restaurant, killing 2 and injuring 4 others

Two people died and several others were injured after a vehicle plowed into the outside of a popular restaurant in Minnesota over the weekend, according to officials.

St. Louis Park, Minnesota police are investigating the incident that happened at Park Tavern on Sunday night. First responders arrived at the scene around 8 p.m, police said in a press release shared on Facebook.

A man was arrested in connection with the case, police told USA TODAY Tuesday morning. His charges are pending.

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Victims identified as a waitress, hospital employee

Two people were killed and at least four others wounded, reported local news outlets. The deceased victims were identified as Kristina Folkerts and Gabe Harvey, according to the outlets and GoFundMe pages set up for them.

Park Tavern created a GoFundMe for Folkerts, who reportedly worked at the restaurant. She was described as a "loving" mother of three. As of Tuesday morning, more than $125,000 had been donated to the fundraiser.

Folkerts spent much of her childhood at Park Tavern because her mother was a waitress at the restaurant for years before she passed away from ovarian cancer, Fox 9 reported. She decided to work there after having her own kids.

A GoFundMe for Harvey revealed that he was at the restaurant that night to celebrate his last shift as a health unit coordinator at Methodist Hospital ICU. He was also in nursing school.

"There was not a soul that Gabe met that he didn’t leave an impression on," the fundraiser said. "He always had a smile and a kind word for everyone."

It has raised nearly $23,000 so far. The money will be given to his partner for the funeral and other related expenses.

Four nurses who worked at Methodist Hospital were also injured in this incident, KARE 11 reported. A memorial was set up at the restaurant to honor the victims.

On Monday, the restaurant announced that it would be closed "until further notice." USA TODAY attempted to contact the owner for comment.

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@gannett.com.