ST. LOUIS — Three men were hospitalized after they were shot Tuesday afternoon in south St. Louis.
St. Louis police were called shortly after 4 p.m. to a shooting in the parking lot of the Target located at 4255 Hampton Avenue in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood.
Police found two men, both 19, inside a car on Hampton Avenue and Eichelberger Street suffering from gunshot wounds. One of the men had a gunshot wound to the eye and right shoulder, and the other was shot in the throat. Both were taken to the hospital, where police described their conditions as "stable."
Later, a 25-year-old man arrived at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his forearm.
All three men remained in the hospital as of Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Preliminary investigation revealed the 25-year-old had met with the other two men at the parking lot to conduct an "unknown transaction." While there, the older man and an acquaintance entered the car with the 19-year-olds, and gunfire was exchanged inside the car.
The car then left the scene, and police later recovered two Glock pistols that had been discarded by the 19-year-old men on Hampton Avenue.
The investigation was ongoing as of Wednesday afternoon. It wasn't clear to police who was responsible for the shooting.
St. Louis Hills, the neighborhood where the shooting happened, has seen three aggravated assaults with a firearm in 2023, not including Tuesday's shooting, according to police data. In 2022, there was just one.