Did St. Louis’ Acting Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole knowingly give a false public statement the night that a black city cop was shot by a white city cop?
At least one police officer says it’s impossible that he didn’t.
On the night of June 21, O’Toole – surrounded by Mayor Lyda Krewson and some top-ranking officers – told media that a black, off-duty city officer was shot in the arm “during the exchange of gunfire” between the suspects and other officers.
O’Toole went straight to the hospital to visit the injured officer, Milton Green, and the police chief gave a public statement to the press outside the hospital afterwards, saying Green was shot in the arm “during the exchange of gunfire” between police and suspects.
However, the next afternoon, the Metropolitan St. Louis Police Department tweeted out the incident statement, which stated that a white officer had shot the black officer.
Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police, said that she arrived at the hospital about 20 minutes after Green did that night, and she already knew that Green had been shot by another officer before she arrived. The chief was already at the hospital, along with some commanders, sergeants, lieutenants and Green’s family.
“Everyone in law enforcement knew it,” said Taylor, who is a night-time homicide sergeant. “His family knew it. I didn’t meet anyone who said, ‘What happened?’ Word spread fast, and [Green] told the same story about three times while I was there. He consistently stated he was shot by another officer.”
Taylor said she wasn’t in the room when O’Toole spoke to Green, but she finds it hard to believe that he didn’t tell the chief the same statement that he told everyone else.
“Why would everyone have the right information about the incident except for the chief?” Taylor said. “If you are the chief of police and you are the only one who doesn’t know what happened… It’s not possible. He provided a statement with a false narrative.”
The St. Louis American has asked O’Toole via email where he received his inaccurate information that night and whether he purposefully gave a false or misleading narrative to the press. The American has not yet received a response.
When he gave his statement, the chief was surrounded by Major Michael Caruso, Major John Hayden and Captain Janice Bockstruck.
Mayor Krewson was at the hospital with the chief that night, she said at a July 19 press conference at her office. She also gave a statement to the press after O’Toole. The St. Louis American asked the mayor if she would fire the chief if she found out he gave an inaccurate public statement on purpose.
“If I think someone has intentionally lied to either me or the public, then yeah, I think that’s room for dismissal,” Krewson said. “I’m not aware that that happened. That’s a hypothetical. I guarantee you that I didn’t lie to you all that night. I told you what I thought happened based on what I was told.”
Krewson heard the story directly from the police chief, she said.
“It’s my understanding that what he said to reporters was the best information that he had at the time,” Krewson said.
On June 21 at about 10:30 p.m., Green, a black St. Louis city police officer, was relaxing with his family at his North St. Louis home when he heard “commotion” nearby and went to scope it out with his department-issued weapon, according to the department’s incident statement.
At that time, three black males, two of whom were 17, had crashed a stolen car on the 5900 block of Astra. The young men fled on foot, and two officers chased and fired shots at them. One of the young men was hit in the ankle.
When the black officer went to assist, two officers ordered him to the ground and he complied. They soon recognized the 11-year veteran on the force and told him to stand up and walk toward them, according to the statement.
But then, another officer, a 36-year-old white officer, arrived on the scene and “observed this,” the report stated.
Somehow, the officer “feared for his safety,” and he shot the black cop in the arm, according to the statement.
The police department did not release the names of any of the officers involved. However, it did state that seven officers went on administrative leave after the incident, as per department policy. The Force Investigative Unit, which focuses on officer-involved shootings, responded, and an investigation is ongoing.
Green has not yet provided his official statement for the investigation. The American was unable to reach Green for comment.
