In the early hours of Saturday morning, a quiet parking garage at Ameristar Casino in St. Charles became the scene of a 27-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, an event that drew two unsuspecting bystanders into an act of urgent heroism. KSDK reported that Diane and Allen Lewis, a couple from Bridgeton, unexpectedly became first responders as Diane was ending her night at the casino and Allen was meeting her. "I wasn't trying to be a hero or anything, just like— 'Okay. She's hurt for real," Diane Lewis said in the exclusive interview with Annie Krall from 5 On Your Side.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., the incident unfolded as the victim, whose name has not been disclosed and is believed to be of Malaysian descent according to KSDK, fled toward a couple seeking help, with blood streaming from her wound. Diane Lewis applied pressure to her neck while Allen Lewis looked for the shooter, "Allen, he's looking around, like 'Okay. You just got shot. There is a shooter around here.'" Diane recounted, "He's going into defense mode like, 'Who is out here?'"
The woman was quickly transported to a local hospital where she underwent emergency surgery; her injuries were classified as life-threatening. She informed the responding officers that the man who shot her was her 50-year-old boyfriend, Calvin Koong. Subsequently, St. Charles Police detained Koong charging him with first-degree domestic assault, first-degree kidnapping, and armed criminal action as detailed in a news release and he is currently held in St. Charles County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond, as stated by First Alert 4.
The investigation is ongoing, but surveillance footage from Ameristar Casino shows an altercation between a man and a woman, with the man pushing the woman into a vehicle. "Preliminary investigations at the scene revealed that the suspect and the victim are in a relationship," said Lieutenant Shawn Hoselton from St. Charles Police, as stated by KSDK.
