ST. LOUIS — An 8-year-old boy was one of three people hit with gunfire when an argument escalated to gunfire Tuesday afternoon.
Officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to the 3800 block of Lee Avenue around 12:40 p.m.
When they arrived, they found three people with gunshot wounds — an 8-year-old boy, a 26-year-old man and a 54-year-old man. All victims were conscious and breathing when police arrived and were all taken to the hospital for treatment.
On Wednesday, police said the shooting started as a result of an argument between the 26-year-old man and another man who left the scene before police arrived. Police said the men argued before pulling out guns and exchanging gunfire.
All three of the victims who were on the scene Tuesday were in the same car at the time of the shooting.
The man who fled the scene was arrested without incident. He was not injured in the argument. Police said he had a handgun on him when he was arrested.
Both men who fired shots are listed as "victim/suspect" in the police report, but no charges have been filed as of Wednesday night.
The investigation is ongoing.
The triple shooting came after a violent weekend in the City of St. Louis — at least 17 people were shot from Saturday to Sunday.
A 15-year-old boy was killed and three other teens were among those injured in weekend shootings in the city.
RELATED: 15-year-old boy killed, 3 other teens injured in separate shootings in St. Louis over the weekend
Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed released the following statement on Tuesday,
“It’s unsettling to see so many people ignore the social distancing rules at the Lake of the Ozarks this past weekend. But, what is even more disturbing and devastating to all of St. Louis is something much closer to home - 19 people shot and 4 people murdered in one weekend.
This is a prime example of why we need to be actively and aggressively fighting both of these public health crises at once.
We don’t need to wait to be another national headline for a record number of children killed in the city to take action. We need to take action now.
Coronavirus aside, gun violence is still a major issue in our city. It is not going away on its own and leaving it unattended will only get worse.”
