ST. LOUIS — St. Louis police said officers shot an armed woman wanted in connection with a shooting before the woman shot herself in south St. Louis Friday morning.
According to a social media post from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, officers shot the woman after she ignored orders her to drop her weapon. The shooting happened at the intersection of West Iowa Avenue and Gasconade Street, which is near Laclede Park in the city's Dutchtown neighborhood.
The woman died from her injuries. Police said the medical examiner will determine if she died from the self-inflicted gunshot wound or was killed by police gunfire.
The post said they were trying to track down the woman after a shooting at around 7:50 a.m. Friday in Bellefontaine Neighbors. That shooting occurred inside a White Castle restaurant.
During a press conference, St. Louis police Maj. Janice Bockstruck said a masked woman walked into the restaurant and fired shots at a woman working inside the restaurant. The victim was listed in critical condition.
Bellefontaine Neighbors police put out a description of the car wanted in connection with the crime, which was spotted by a license plate camera in St. Louis.
Bockstruck said officers tried to pull the car over, but it sped away. When officers found it parked nearby, the driver fled again. Later in the morning, officers spotted the parked car again and saw a woman getting out of the car near the intersection of West Iowa Avenue and Gasconade Street.
Officers got out and started yelling commands at the woman, who was armed with a pistol. When the woman did not listen, officers then fired multiple shots, striking her, according to Bockstruck.
Bockstruck said the woman then shot herself. She later died from the gunshot wounds. Police have not released her identity but said she was 26 years old.
No officers were injured police said.
Police haven't disclosed the relationship between the two women or how many shots were fired by officers.
The department's Force Investigative Unit is handling the ongoing investigation.