ST. LOUIS — St. Louis police detectives are investigating a Christmas Day shooting that left two teenagers injured. The shooting took place just after noon, Wednesday in the 4500 block of Alice.
Police say both victims are 18-year-old males. One victim is suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. He was not conscious and barely breathing when police arrived. He was immediately taken to an area hospital and was listed in critical condition.
The second victim was shot in the foot. He is also being treated at an area hospital and is expected to be OK.
Police placed more than 20 evidence markers on the scene of the shooting and neighbors said it sounded like a war zone. One neighbor said they saw the shooter in a car driving down the wrong way down Alice to get to the victims.
“We just kept hearing what sounded like 20 to 30 gunshots. It was crazy,” said one neighbor who asked not to be identified.
The neighbor said after the bullets stopped flying, her daughter ran outside to check on the male passenger who was shot in his foot.
“My mind was racing, but I saw that she was helping the guy and I think she helped him lie down on the ground,” she said.
Another neighbor said the suspect vehicle crashed into his car, pushing his car up onto the sidewalk.
“Man, I found my windshield wiper holder, pieces of my bumper and other parts all over the ground,” said 64-year-old Cornel Harriel.
Harriel returned home only to learn that the victims’ shot up car smashed into his parked suburban.
“Yeah, on Christmas! My God is this some kind of warning or something? Don’t leave your house on Christmas? I just hope those guys who were hurt, are going to be OK,” said Harriel.
Meantime, the rattled neighbor just wants to forget the Christmas nightmare.
“I had people at my home and I’m like what if one of my guests had gotten caught up in that,” the woman said.
Earlier in the day, two 17-year-olds were injured in a double shooting near the intersection of Jefferson and Victor. Police said the shooting happened at around 11:40 a.m.
Police said both men were being treated at the hospital with stable vital signs.
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St. Louis homicide total reaches 193 in 2019
This time last year there were 181 homicides, and the number of total homicides for 2018 is 286. In fact, there were more homicides this year than there have been every year since 2015 except for 2017.
In 2017, there were 205.
Among the 193 victims, this year are 14 children who were shot and killed this year, most of them occurring over the summer.
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"I'm sick and tired of being on the top 10 list of most dangerous cities in America," St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed said. "There is no reason for that."
Reed has been a champion for Cure Violence, a program that takes a data-based, holistic approach to attack violence by treating it as a public health issue.
In October, city leaders approved $5 million dollars in funding for the program and selected three high-crime neighborhoods the following month. Last week, another $1.5 million was allotted to the project.
"This problem is not going to fix itself," Reed said. "It's a serious issue for our city. It is the biggest issue our city needs to contend with."
Reed said hiring for the program will begin shortly after the start of the new year. He said he expects the three community centers, that will be located in North and South St. Louis, to be ready to launch in March.