St. Louis police are searching for a man who shot and injured a police officer Thursday morning.
St. Louis police Chief Joe Mokwa said Officer Kelly McGinnis, 40, was driving down the street around 2:30 a.m. Thursday when a man standing in the 4400 block of Lee Avenue opened fire. McGinnis, an 18-year veteran was hit in the arm and chin. He continued westbound, before stopping his patrol car in the intersection of Lee and Taylor Avenues
McGinnis was treated for non life-threatening injuries at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He was released Thursday afternoon.
Fourteen shell casings were found at the scene. Police said the gun used was a 9-millimeter.
Mokwa considers this a random, unprovoked attack. Officers spent much of the morning searching the area near the crime scene with specialized dogs. They also used a helicopter to search by air.
In an unrelated incident, detectives from the St. Louis Police Department Crime Suppression Unit were shot at around 12:30 a.m. Thursday in the 5500 block of Labadie Avenue.
Police said the officers gave chase and one of the suspects fired a shot at the detectives.
One of the detectives returned fire and the suspects fled through an alley.
Police said one of the suspects then fired more shots at the officer.
Detectives arrested one suspect in a backyard in the 5500 block of St. Louis Avenue, and the other in a garage in the same block.