There was another police involved shooting death of a young black man in St. Louis today, this time on Walton Rd. near Page Ave. in the Fountain Park neighborhood. Ironically, this incident occurred as community activists gathered downtown for a midday remembrance at Kiener Plaza, marking the one-year anniversary of the St. Louis police killing of Kajieme Powell.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson described for reporters what took place around 11:30 a.m. when members of the police Special Operations unit and Tactical Team were executing a search warrant to a home on Walton.
Dotson said, “As they were about to make entry into the house, two young African American men ran out the back door. Both were armed. One was armed with what appears to be a 9mm with an extended magazine. The other individual had two guns and a quantity of crack cocaine. Officers in the rear alley ordered them to stop and to drop the gun. As they ran, one of the individuals turned and pointed the gun at the officers. There were two officers in the alley. Both officers fired. Right now, it appears one officer fired one shot. The other fired three shots. The suspect was struck. He dropped his gun and he continued to run through a gangway until he collapsed in front of 1233 Walton here on the street.”
Dotson said the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
People quickly gathered outside of where the shooting took place. Some yelled angry expletives at officers, while others expressed frustration and grief. Among the crowd there were also individuals who disputed police accounts of the shooting.
As word of the shooting spread, some who attended the Powell memorial demonstration came to the scene as well. As the crowd grew in numbers, so did additional law enforcement, in riot gear, with rifles and threatening to use mace to clear observers from the street.
There were at least two crowd arrests.
Police have not released the name of the young man who was killed.
“He’s an African American, appears to be in his early 20s. We do know that the gun he had was reported stolen from Rolla, Missouri. ATF is on the scene and did a quick gun trace for us,” Dotson said. “There were other individuals that were in the house that were taken into custody without incident. One individual that ran out of the back door, was described as a young African American in his mid to late teens. He is still on the loose, with a very general clothing description.”
Dotson said police recovered crack cocaine at the scene.
The police chief said this is the same neighborhood that has been plagued by violence over recent days, with a shooting at Adams Market, the murder of a woman and the carjacking and robbing of an elderly Tuskegee Airman.
The two officers involved in the shooting are described as white males, ages 33 and 29, both with about seven years on the police force. Both have been placed on administrative leave as per department policy.
Look for updates from Mariah Stewart, who was on the scene during protests.
