ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Police said chaos Saturday night in St. Louis County stemmed from a car meet—also known as a "slideshow"—that started in Bridgeton.
Empty liquor bottles, trash and the smell of burnt rubber are all that's left in the Bridgeton Extra Space Storage parking lot.
“The aftermath is crazy for everything that's here. I mean, we've been here for our entire life, pretty much and this has never happened before,” neighbor Soren Britz said
Britz said he and his friend were pulling up to the Circle K off St. Charles Rock Road when they saw hundreds of people, cars and reckless driving.
“We saw a bunch of smoking tires and everything happening over here. And there was a big group of people. So we came over here, and they were burning out and doing all the car takeover things and stuff like that,” Britz said.
He said his friend's girlfriend was trapped at McDonalds and the whole scene was concerning.
“Those people that are driving those cars don't really have care for anybody's safety,” Brtiz said.
Britz's friend, Travis Elliott, said the reckless drivers eventually left the parking lot but the commotion continued all night.
“We live right off of Cypress Road over here and it’s right next to the highway. So we heard people get on the highway and racing all night,” Elliott said.
Elliott and Britz were also critical of the police response they witnessed.
“There's no police response, and there's no consequences to any of this. Why would they stop? There's no point for them to stop,” Britz said.
The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was activated after reports of a shooting near the Earth City Expressway and Corporate Woods Drive. In a statement, it said Bridgeton police officers were met with gunfire as people tried to drive away.
At least five people were injured and one of them was transported to a hospital in critical condition.
This was all happening close to St. Ann city limits.
Capt. Blake Carrigan said the St. Ann Police Department received several calls about it and assisted Bridgeton police with the dangerous situation.
“(It's) extremely dangerous anytime you get a large amount of people gathered up like that in vehicles doing donuts, doing unsafe activities. And then, you know, more times than not we see the guns come out whenever that happens. And unfortunately, we saw the result last night,” Carrigan said.
Carrigan said a lot of this comes down to education.
“We need to educate people there are consequences for their actions and their actions affect the entire community,” he said.
In court documents, St. Louis County Police said some of the drivers ended up on New Halls Ferry Road where they saw a man driving erratically in a blue Dodge Charger, hitting other cars and nearly hitting people.
Officers started walking toward the car when the driver, identified by police as Antwon Hunter, then turned toward one of them, hitting the officer and pinning them against another car.
They said Hunter drove a little further then got out of the car and started running but they were able to catch up and take him into custody.
The officer was taken to the hospital and later released.
Hunter, 25, was charged with one count each of first-degree attempted assault, armed criminal action and resisting arrest. He was in the hospital Sunday, but is being held on a $500,000 bond.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Dallas Thompson said troopers stopped three drivers involved with the car meet, but there were no crashes reported to them.
“We were aware of the event that might take place in that area so we scheduled several extra troopers to be on duty in the area,” Thompson said.
The Major Case Squad ased anyone with information to contact investigators at 314-373-3839. People with information who wish to remain anonymous and be eligible for a CrimeStoppers reward of up to $5,000 can call 866-371-TIPS (8477).