BALLWIN, Mo. — A standoff ended Monday evening and the woman barricaded inside the home shot herself, a press release from the St. Louis County Police Department said.
Police said the woman barricaded herself inside the home Monday afternoon after exchanging gunfire with officers. She died at the hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
She was identified as 51-year-old Janet Rabe.
According to the press release, Rabe barricaded herself inside her home on Cascade Terrace Drive Monday afternoon.
“It just doesn’t seem like that could happen in Ballwin. I’ve lived here for 21 years,” neighbor Dan Ludwig said. “The times that I knew her, she was very nice She’s been kind of a recluse the past couple of years.”
A news release said Ballwin officers tried to pull her over at around 12:30 Monday afternoon in connection with a flourishing of a weapon incident earlier in the day, but she sped away. Officers did not pursue her.
About an hour later, a different Ballwin officer spotted the car and tried to pull it over again, but she fled. Police said she then flourished the gun at a St. Louis County officer who responded to the scene and struck a second St. Louis County police vehicle with her car.
While fleeing to the home on Cascade Terrace Drive, she flourished the gun again and fired multiple shots at officers, police said.
“They chased her back into the subdivision, and then, she barricaded herself in her condo," Ludwig said.
A Ballwin officer returned fire, but the department said it does not believe anyone was struck by the gunfire.
“My little boy was scared,” a concerned mom said.
The mom was one of many who had to sit in their cars outside the subdivision as the standoff continued.
“I’m just bringing him back from daycare, and we just want to go home,” she said.
Finally, after nearly six hours, an EMS, county police and SWAT team members entered the home and found Rabe with a gunshot wound. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Oak Brook Elementary School, which is near the scene, was in "code yellow" for about 10 minutes but dismissed normally at 2:30 p.m., Parkway School District Spokeswoman Cathy Kelly said. She said in situations like these, the school would not have dismissed students without permission from the police department.
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