ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis County police officer was tackled by bystanders after firing shots into the air at a Kirkwood school event Sunday afternoon.
No one was injured in the incident at North Kirkwood Middle School during the event for Tillmann Elementary School, the Kirkwood School District said.
Matthew McCulloch was charged in connection with the event. McCulloch is the son of former St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert "Bob" McCulloch, the nephew of current St. Charles County Prosecutor Joe McCulloch and a current St. Louis County police officer.
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St. Louis County Police Chief Kenneth Gregory said in a statement Monday that McCulloch, a county police officer, was on unpaid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. He was off-duty at the time of the incident.
The school was hosting a trunk-or-treat event on the North Kirkwood Middle School campus where children could get candy from decorated vehicles in a parking lot. The event was scheduled to take place from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
According to charging documents, at around 4:30 p.m., McCulloch began harassing people during the event, where hundreds of parents and children were present. McCulloch "aggressively approached" several attendees and made statements such as "you are all going to die," documents said.
McCulloch was eventually shoved in the chest after threatening a witness and his wife, documents said.
"The defendant fell to the pavement in the center of the parking lot while surrounded by hundreds of children, stood up, pulled up his shirt to display a handgun and badge, then began firing his weapon in an upward direction approximately a dozen times while shouting that the attendees would die," a probable cause statement said.
Several eventgoers then tackled McCulloch and took his gun.
A neighbor, Pepe Saldana, said he heard the shots and ran over to the school.
"We see people running, mothers screaming and kids crying. I got closer and I saw the guy and talking to one of the parents who jumped on to this criminal," Saldana said.
Kirkwood School District Chief Communications Officer Steph Deidrick said they are working on support services for everyone involved.
"Our staff, our students and our families were not hurt. But we know that there are certainly a lot of traumatic scars that are going to be there. And so our focus right now is getting counselors, social workers and other staff available to those teams, we will be communicating directly with them soon about how they can access those. So we can make sure that we have support for our families and staff," Deidrick said.
On Facebook, Tillman Elementary School announced classes would be canceled Monday. Instead, the school building will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for students, families and staff to gather and get support from counselors or social workers.
"We are deeply grateful for the lack of injuries but acknowledge that this traumatic event will reverberate through the school community during the coming days, weeks, and months," the Sunday Facebook post reads. "... We will be working this evening to ensure resources are available for anyone who needs them moving forward."
The North Kirkwood Middle School at Geyer and Manchester roads. Tillman Elementary School is in the neighborhood on the southeast side of the intersection at Kirkwood and Manchester roads.
This is breaking news. Additional details will be added as they are learned.
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