ST. LOUIS — A teenager was shot by a St. Louis Sheriff's Department deputy Wednesday night near Enterprise Center, police said.
The shooting happened at about 6:15 p.m. near the intersection of South 14th and Clark streets on the platform of the Civic Center Transit Center, which serves both MetroLink and MetroBus riders.
"(The deputy) was alerted to an ... altercation. During this altercation, he observed an individual—a juvenile suspect—produce a firearm and begin shooting at other individuals on the platform," St. Louis police Maj. Janice Bockstruck said.
The teenager was struck in the chest, police said. He was conscious and breathing when he was taken by ambulance to a St. Louis hospital. Bockstruck declined to comment on the teenager's exact age.
"(The deputy) drew his weapon and shot the armed juvenile suspect, ending the confrontation," Bockstruck said.
The other people involved in the altercation left the scene. It was unclear if anyone else was injured.
"We haven't concluded that. That's part of our investigation," Bockstruck said.
The sheriff's deputy was not injured.
MetroLink trains and Metro buses bypassed the transit center for about two hours while police investigated the incident, a spokesperson for Bi-State Development said.
A day after the shooting, some riders said it reflected a need for more security. Regina, a MetroLink rider who declined to give her last name, said she uses the transit center to get to and from her two jobs.
"It's very dangerous," she said. "A lot of nights I catch Uber or Lyft because it is so unsafe."
Officers have responded to the area around the transit center about 200 times in 2024 for issues like assault, disturbances and other calls for help.
MetroLink riders said conductors can't always see what's going on.
“Sometimes we have to notify (them that) somebody's back here bleeding. Somebody's back here being attacked. They don't see everything," Regina said.
Kevin Scott, the general manager of security for Bi-State Development, said the organization "commend(ed) the deputy, who is part of our secondary law enforcement patrol, for the actions, vigilances and the bravery shown yesterday ... which stopped further harm to our transit community."
Scott also said Bi-State Development's real-time camera center and security team have been "proactively addressing issues along the alignment in a strategic manner."
There have been 10 shootings in St. Louis involving a law enforcement officer in 2024. The shooting Wednesday night was the first involving a sheriff's deputy.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Force Investigation Unit is handling the ongoing investigation, Bockstruck said.
A spokesperson for the sheriff's department said he did not immediately have any additional information to share.
Correction on May 29, 2024: Police initially said the person who was shot was a 20-year-old man. During a media briefing, a St. Louis police major said the person was a teenager.
Correction on May 30, 2024: An earlier version of this report stated there had been nine shootings involving law enforcement officers in St. Louis in 2024. There have been 10, including one on May 6 that involved officers from the St. Louis County Police Department.