ST. LOUIS — There was a “little less juvenile activity” and “fireworks play was a lot less, too,” Saturday night and early Sunday morning in downtown St. Louis, according to an internal St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department email obtained by 5 On Your Side.
The overnight hours were not, however, without their share of violence that’s plagued the city in the past several days, most notably in the hours after the Celebrate Saint Louis fireworks display on July 4 when seven people were injured in a mass shooting at Kiener Plaza.
On Saturday at 5 p.m., officers were alerted by an off-duty St. Louis police officer who was working a secondary shift to a man firing a gun near Memorial Plaza in the 1500 block of Market Street, directly across from Stifel Theatre.
A 15-year-old boy from Arkansas was crossing Market Street with his friend, also 15, and his friend's parents when they heard gunfire.
"There were several people in the park. Many of them (were) gathered around (a) statue. We heard five gunshots from that direction, and my son's friend told me he had been hit in the arm," said Britini Rush.
The boy was grazed on his elbow by a bullet. He was treated for his injury at the scene.
"We continued down the sidewalk, and staff from the Enterprise Center got to us quickly and took us to medical. It was a minor injury. We are thankful for the quick response of the Enterprise Center staff, firemen, ambulance, police and detectives," Rush said.
The four were in St. Louis to attend the AJR concert at Enterprise Center.
"We did make it to the concert, and AJR put on an amazing show," Rush said.
At the time of the shooting, the area was densely packed with cars and other pedestrians also headed to the concert, which was set to begin at 6:45 p.m.
A 59-year-old Uber driver was traveling east on Market Street when his Scion was struck several times by gunfire. He was not injured.
Another police officer saw the man get in a Chrysler 200 being driven by a woman. A description of the vehicle was broadcast on police radios, and the car was stopped about a half-mile away near 18th and Olive streets.
The off-duty officer who initially saw the man firing a gun responded to the scene and positively identified him.
Police arrested Jaquan Rush, who was subsequently charged with one count each of second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree property damage, and two counts of armed criminal action. Rush, 28, was being held without bond at the St. Louis City Justice Center.
Police also found Rush violated his probation after he pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of first-degree sexual abuse and one misdemeanor count of first-degree sexual misconduct.
“The additional police presence in the downtown area, provided by the detail we put out every weekend as well as uniformed officers working private security for planned events in the area, coordinating with our Real Time Crime Center were vital in the quick apprehension of the suspect responsible for this incident,” police said in a blog post on the department’s website.
The 31-year-old driver of the Chrysler was also arrested on several warrants for failing to appear in court on municipal traffic violations in St. Louis.
Police said the gun used in the shooting was not located.
Early Sunday morning, a 20-year-old St. Louis man and a 17-year-old boy from Berkeley were shot during an attempted robbery in Kiener Plaza.
Police said the 20-year-old man ran across Chestnut Street to the Kiener Plaza West parking garage, where he was subsequently found with gunshot wounds to his back, leg and stomach. He was taken to a St. Louis hospital in critical condition.
The 17-year-old boy arrived at a St. Louis hospital for treatment of his injuries. He was shot in the upper leg while running from the scene, police said.
A bystander fired shots at the suspects, described as three males wearing dark clothing and dark-colored face masks. It’s unclear if any of them were struck by gunfire.
In other weekend crime throughout the city, officers responded Saturday morning to Bellerive Park along the banks of the Mississippi River in south St. Louis, where they found a 35-year-old man who had been shot in his pelvis.
“The man told officers he was walking in the park when another man ran up to him asking for help. The man began to hide behind the 35-year-old man,” police said. “The 35-year-old man then observed a dark-colored sedan drive directly toward him and the man hiding behind him.”
Police said two men wearing masks got out of the car and shot at the man who was hiding. He ran away, and the 35-year-old man realized he’d been shot.
The injured man was taken by ambulance to a St. Louis hospital for treatment.
At about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to a St. Louis hospital after a 17-year-old boy was dropped off with gunshot wounds to his hand and leg. He was unable to talk with police because he was sedated.
Police said the boy was shot in the area of the 1400 block of Wright Street in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood. His vital signs were stable, police said.
Shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday, officers responded again to a St. Louis hospital for a 47-year-old man who had been shot in the stomach in the city’s Mark Twain neighborhood.
The man’s sister told police she was inside her home near Thekla Avenue and North Kingshighway Boulevard when she heard gunshots and screaming. She went outside and found her brother injured on her front porch.
The woman drove her brother to the hospital. He was rushed into surgery and listed in critical condition, police said.
About an hour later, officers responded to a shooting in the 4400 block of Grace Avenue in the Dutchtown neighborhood in south St. Louis, where they found a man dead of an apparent gunshot wound.
A man and woman in their 20s who had also been shot arrived at a St. Louis hospital for treatment. The man was shot in his leg, and the woman was shot in the back, police said. Both were conscious and breathing.
Several other gun-related incidents plagued the city center Sunday morning.
Officers responded to the area of Market and 7th streets at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday for a call for fireworks being set off inside Citygarden.
They saw an approximately 20-year-old man drop a backpack before running west out of the park. Inside the backpack, officers found a semi-automatic rifle.
About 15 minutes later, officers received a call for 16-year-old boy who was openly carrying a .22 caliber pistol in the 800 block of Chestnut Street that was reported stolen from Hazelwood earlier this month.
Officers arrested the boy after a brief police pursuit, police said.
And at 1:30 a.m., officers spotted an illegally parked GMC pickup truck that had been seen for the past several nights driving recklessly with people in its bed.
As the pickup truck was being towed from North 7th and Pine streets, the vehicle’s owner showed up and began threatening officers.
When officers searched the pickup truck, they found an unattended 9mm pistol near the driver’s seat.
The owner of the truck was arrested and issued a summons for leaving the firearm unattended in a vehicle, police said.
Additionally, “large groups of juveniles did roam throughout the downtown area of Kiener Plaza and CityPark,” according to the internal email authored by Lt. James Joyner, the commander of the mobile reserve unit.
“(Anti-crime task force detectives) seized several firearms per the new open carry ordinance and fireworks from numerous juvenile offenders in the downtown area, specifically near Kiener Plaza,” Joyner wrote.
On Saturday morning, police arrested two men who were openly carrying guns near Kiener Plaza.
One of the men, 18-year-old Mahidi Morris of Hazelwood, was charged with one felony count of unlawful possession of a firearm. Officers said Morris had a Glock 23 pistol with an auto sear, which makes the gun fully automatic.
A judge ordered Morris released on his own recognizance and said he could not possess any firearms.
In a prepared statement issued Friday evening through a spokesperson, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said the mass shooting a day earlier was a "tragedy."
"My heart goes out to all of the victims, their families and the entire St. Louis community. The simple fact is this: there are too many guns on our streets. A small group of individuals with easy access to firearms have put a cloud over a day when thousands of residents got to enjoy their Fourth of July in downtown St. Louis safely."
Jones said St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy and the department had her full support.
Since Thursday evening, at least 20 people have been shot in St. Louis, according to 5 On Your Side data. One person died from his injuries.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association planned a town hall on Monday at 6 p.m. at the St. Louis Central Library on Olive Street. In addition to Tracy, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore was also expected to attend.
At STLFest Sunday afternoon, Jones addressed those who had gathered from the stage that rappers Yung Joc and Rocko would perform on later in the evening.
"I just wanted to come by and tell you that your mayor loves you, and I have been working hard with a capital W to make sure we put resources in our community," Jones said. "(And) that we reduce crime and we put our arms around our babies to give them things to do to be productive citizens instead of going downtown and shooting up fireworks in downtown."
Conner Kerrigan, a spokesperson for the mayor, said she was unavailable to further discuss the weekend's violence and that she "likely won't be attending" the town hall.
Police asked anyone with information about any of the incidents to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).
5 On Your Side reporter Justina Coronel contributed to this report.