ST. LOUIS — A woman’s car was stolen in Sunset Hills, and her son shot one of the suspects, according to police.
Monday morning around 8:30 a.m., police were called to the area of Interstate 64 and Big Bend Boulevard in Richmond Heights for shots being fired, according to Colonel Gerry Rohr, Richmond Heights Chief of Police.
"What we discovered was one of the vehicles involved was stolen out of Sunset Hills this morning, and the victim's son was tracking that vehicle and tracked it to this location," he said.
According to investigators, a woman’s BMW was stolen in Sunset Hills. Her son then followed the suspects from Sunset Hills to Big Bend Boulevard and I-64.
Col. Rohr said police believe the victim's son rammed his car into the stolen BMW, got out and fired shots at the suspects.
"We don't know what caused him to do that. We don't know if it was him responding to having guns pointed at him, but we do know that these people were armed because we're recovering some of their weapons," he said.
The woman's son hit one of the suspects in the leg. The suspect was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The other suspects, who were involved in stealing the BMW, ran into a neighborhood where they were eventually taken into custody. One of the suspects remains at-large.
Both police and neighbors in the area were shocked at what took place.
"Richmond Heights is a is a very low crime town. I've talked about this at length with residents that are concerned about crime, and they really don't have typically these types of concerns here, but you have to be ready, and we were," Col. Rohr said.
Gail Grich has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and described it as 'peaceful' and 'enjoyable.'
"We all know each other, and so it's very unusual to have anything happen in this neighborhood," she said.
Grich said she heard her husband yelling, and that's when she knew something was out of place.
"I was gonna holler at him for using a swear word, but once I saw what was going on, I decided it was a good idea. He sounded very authoritative," she said.
Grich's husband was outside with their dog on Monday morning, when he saw the suspects sprinting down the street.
"He saw the two guys coming after him, and then he yelled really loud at them to get out of here," she said.
The woman’s son, who shot one of the suspects, stayed at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
Col. Rohr said this situation is tricky, since they have to figure out if what the woman's son did was self-defense or if he should be charged with a crime.
"It looks like the suspects were armed. We don't know what the confrontation is here," he said.
Police are going to try to learn more about what exactly led up to the shooting and why the victim's son fired shots, according to Col. Rohr.
Police locked down two schools in the area during the investigation, but those schools have resumed normal operations.
According to Col. Rohr, Maplewood, Brentwood and Clayton police helped Richmond Heights on Monday morning.
No other information about the shooting has been released. This is a developing story and will be updated as 5 On Your Side confirms more information.