A child was critically injured in a shooting Wednesday evening at a short-term rental property in St. Louis’ DeBaliviere Place neighborhood, just north of Forest Park. Officers responded shortly before 5:30 p.m. to the 5500 block of Pershing Avenue, where they found the child wounded. Police have not released the child’s age or current condition.
According to KSDK, initial investigation indicated the shooting happened at the short-term rental property, and that some of the people who had been staying there left after the shooting occurred. Police have not disclosed who fired the shot or what led up to it. As KMOV also reported, the shooting unfolded just north of Forest Park in St. Louis city, placing it within the residential blocks of DeBaliviere Place that sit close to the park’s northern edge.
What Police Have and Haven’t Said
Investigators have offered few specifics so far. Police did not have further details on the child’s age or condition at the time they spoke with reporters, per the same KSDK account, and it remains unclear whether anyone has been arrested or what prompted the gunfire inside the rental property. The identities of the people who left the scene afterward have also not been disclosed.
The 5500 block of Pershing Avenue sits roughly two blocks from where a previous shooting was reported. On April 1, 2025, a double shooting was reported on the 5300 block of Pershing Avenue at about 11:20 p.m., according to KSDK’s earlier coverage — a separate incident with no confirmed connection to Wednesday’s shooting.
A Broader Pattern of Youth Gun Violence in St. Louis
Wednesday’s shooting adds to a string of incidents in St. Louis this year in which children and teenagers have been shot. In June, a 15-year-old boy was shot to death on South Taylor and Chouteau avenues in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, as reported by stltoday.com. That same report cited the police department’s CompStat data showing 24 juveniles had been shot in the city through mid-June, matching the total from the same point the year before.
No further updates on the child’s condition or the circumstances of the Pershing Avenue shooting have been released. Police have not said whether they are seeking additional suspects or witnesses in connection with the case.
