Late Friday night in St. Louis, the streets around the Carr Square neighborhood turned deadly when bursts of gunfire left two people dead and three others wounded, according to police. The shooting erupted just before 11 p.m. across several blocks near Preservation Place and 15th Street, sending residents running for cover as multiple police units swarmed the area.
First Alert 4 reports that Metro Air Support spotted a vehicle speeding away from the scene, and officers deployed spike strips to stop it on the McKinley Bridge. Inside, they found a woman in the backseat who had been fatally shot, and detained two men who were also in the car. Officers then located four additional gunshot victims scattered around the blocks near Preservation Place and 15th Street and rushed them to nearby hospitals.
A neighbor who spoke with KSDK described a chaotic scene with sustained gunfire and said bluntly that “they was looking for somebody to die.” Video and eyewitness accounts in that report show people sprinting away on foot as officers searched yards and sidewalks for shell casings and other evidence.
Homicide Probe and Carr Square Violence Pattern
Homicide detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are treating the multiple crime scenes as one connected case and are canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses and surveillance footage. CompStat data from the department indicates that Carr Square is among the city neighborhoods that have experienced repeat violent incidents this year, according to the SLMPD.
Victims and How to Help
Authorities have not yet released the names of the two people killed, pending notification of their families. One outlet reported that the dead include a 27-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, and that three other men, ages 43, 41 and 26, were hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life threatening, according to AOL. Police are urging anyone with information, cellphone video or security footage to contact the SLMPD Homicide Division at 314-444-5371 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS.
Neighbors React
Residents told KSDK they were rattled by the volume of gunfire and said it was hard to tell where the shots were coming from. Community members and local leaders said they are hoping a thorough investigation leads to arrests, and urged anyone who captured video in the area to step forward to help identify those responsible.
Police said they have asked news outlets not to publish victim identities until families have been formally notified. This story will be updated as investigators release more information.
