SAINT LOUIS, Mo. — St. Louis police responded to nine separate shooting scenes within a span of four hours Sunday evening, and the victims included 8-year-old, 9-year-old and 12-year-old girls.
Just before 5:30 p.m., St. Louis police responded to the 4200 block of C.D. Banks Ave., where they found an 8-year-old with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her thumb. A 9-year-old girl also had a possible graze wound to her leg. Both girls were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Police said the younger girl found a gun in the home and accidentally shot it.
At about the same time, a man was shot in the arm about 2 miles away while exiting Interstate 64 onto Vandeventer Avenue. He told police an unknown suspect fired shots into the car from a black Jeep. A 5-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl were in the car with him but weren't struck.
At 6:06 p.m., someone called police to report two more people had been shot near East Linton Avenue and Emily Street in the city's College Hill neighborhood. Police identified the victims as a 32-year-old man shot in the leg and a 47-year-old man shot in the foot. Police they were shot by two men and a woman in a dark-colored SUV.
Less than 30 minutes later, a 52-year-old man was shot in the stomach in the 4600 block of North 20th Street. Two other men said he had been standing next to their car and talking to them before they heard gunfire and he was shot. They drove him to the hospital. His condition was not made available.
Around 6:45 p.m., a 25-year-old man was shot in the right leg in the 1400 block of North Ninth Street. He told police he was walking in the area when he heard gunshots and realized he'd been shot.
Brian Gardner Jr., 41, was found at about the same time lying on the ground in the 4200 block of Ellenwood Avenue in south St. Louis. He died from his injuries. A homicide investigation is underway.
After a couple hours of calm, a 19-year-old man was shot in the face around 9:18 p.m. He told police he was driving southbound on Interstate 55 when a black sedan pulled up and a man started shooting. He drove to his girlfriend's house on Germania Street and she took him to the hospital, where he was listed in serious, stable condition.
Several minutes later, police responded to a call for a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the foot inside a car on the 1500 block of Hickory Street shortly after gunfire erupted at the Peabody Housing Complex. A 40-year-old woman in the car was not injured. Police believe the woman and child were caught in the crossfire.
And at 9:30 p.m., three shooting victims responded to an area hospital, saying they'd been shot in the 2800 block of Victor Street in the Fox Park neighborhood. A man and woman had been shot in the legs, and a man was shot in the torso.
So far in 2021, 85 people have been murdered in St. Louis, and nearly 50 children 17 and under have been shot, according to 5 On Your Side data.