An 18-year-old male experiencing a mental health crisis was shot in the leg by a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer last night in the south part of the city. According to First Alert 4, the police were summoned around 6:45 p.m. to a backyard at 5200 Idaho after a woman reported her son was exhibiting signs of a mental health emergency.
Upon arrival, officers encountered the teen who was allegedly committing unspecified "violent acts" with a hammer in hand. Officers instructed him to drop the weapon, but he refused. This led ultimately to the officers to shoot him in the leg, as reported by KSDK. A subsequent tasing by a second officer finally disarmed him, leading to his being taken into custody and to the hospital, where his condition was deemed stable.
Maj. Janice Bockstruck of the St. Louis Police specified that the officers had heard a disturbance before seeing the young man emerge into the yard with the tool in hand. "During this encounter, the suspect advanced toward the officers with the hammer," SLMPD Major Janice Bockstruck said, as noted by Fox 2 Now. She continued, detailing how one officer fired shots after the man clearly refused to comply with their commands and approached them.
After being shot, the troubled individual stopped but remained non-compliant, refusing to lay down the hammer. A second taser application was used to finally disarm him. Major Bockstruck emphasized that the young man is "receiving the help that he needs," suggesting a mental health intervention followed the physical altercation, as mentioned on KSDK. The incident was part of a pattern, as police had responded to at least two other calls involving the same person earlier in the week. The in-house Force Investigation Unit is now reviewing the shooting incident to ensure proper protocols were followed.
