Gunshots rang out late Saturday night near a short-term rental on Henrietta Street in St. Louis's Gate District, shattering the front door window of a nearby home and damaging other property nearby. No injuries were reported, but police are still searching for whoever opened fire near the intersection of Compton and Lafayette in the city's south side.
St. Louis police are investigating the shooting, according to First Alert 4, which first reported that the gunfire struck a residential front door and other nearby property. Surveillance video reportedly shows people firing multiple gunshots before running from the scene, though police have asked that the footage not be made public. No one was hurt in the incident, and detectives are still working to identify and locate those responsible.
A Neighborhood Already on Edge
The Henrietta Street shooting happened in the Gate District, a neighborhood bounded by Chouteau Avenue, Interstate 44, South Jefferson Avenue, and South Grand Boulevard. The area lies south of the central corridor and west of Lafayette Square. The area has a mix of historic brick homes, apartment buildings, and newer infill construction lining its blocks.
This is not the first time gunfire has touched the neighborhood in recent months. Hoodline reported that a man in his 30s died in January following a New Year's Eve shooting near Rutger Street and Ohio Avenue, just blocks away, after undergoing multiple surgeries before succumbing to his injuries. That earlier case remains a grim backdrop for residents already wary of violence creeping into their streets.
Short-Term Rentals Caught in Legal Limbo
The Henrietta Street address where Saturday's shooting happened is a short-term rental, placing it at the center of an unresolved fight over how St. Louis polices such properties. The city has short-term-rental safety rules, but their enforcement has been blocked.
But a St. Louis Circuit Court judge issued a temporary restraining order in April 2025 blocking the city from enforcing the permit rules, and enforcement was paused as of August 2026. Even as permit enforcement sits frozen, the city continues collecting a separate 3% tax per nightly stay under Ordinance 72095, which also requires a business license. The ordinance, passed in February 2026, funds affordable housing and tenant legal services through the tax, which St. Louis voters originally approved under Proposition S in November 2024.
The shooting occurred while enforcement of the city's short-term-rental permit rules remained paused. It also echoes a pattern Hoodline has tracked across St. Louis, where an August shooting outside a Central West End Airbnb left more than 80 shell casings scattered in a parking area, riddled parked vehicles with bullet holes, and left a 19-year-old party attendee with a graze wound. A Tesla camera in that case captured a person getting out of a car and muzzle flashes; the shooter drove off.
Potential Charges Carry Heavy Penalties
Whoever is eventually identified in the Henrietta Street shooting could face serious state charges. Knowingly discharging a firearm into a dwelling or motor vehicle, or into a building or structure used for assembling people, amounts to Unlawful Use of a Weapon under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 571.030, according to FindLaw.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers, which offers cash rewards of up to $2,000 for anonymous tips leading to a felony arrest, according to St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers. For now, the identities of those caught on surveillance video remain unknown, and St. Louis police have not said when an arrest might be expected.
