ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A carjacking suspect has died after a chase and officer-involved shooting in north St. Louis County Monday morning.
St. Louis County police said it started at about 6:35 a.m. as a carjacking in the McDonald’s parking lot on Bellefontaine Road in Spanish Lake. A 67-year-old man and his 10-year-old grandson were carjacked with some kind of weapon, police. The suspect drove off in their black pickup truck.
A short time later, they were walking down the sidewalk away from the scene. Police said the suspect in their truck made a U-turn, came back and hit the man with the vehicle. The 67-year-old was injured but is expected to recover. The 10-year-old wasn’t hurt.
Police said the suspect drove away and wrecked the pickup truck in the front yard of a nearby residence. However, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy with the City of St. Louis Sheriff's Department witnessed the incident and chased the suspect.
While chasing after the man, St. Louis County police officers who were on the scene helping the carjacking victims said they heard a gunshot. The carjacking suspect was shot by the off-duty sheriff’s deputy. The man was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.
No further information about the suspect has been released.
The off-duty sheriff’s deputy is 51 years old. He has 19 years of experience in law enforcement, St. Louis County police said. He was in his uniform but was in his personal vehicle at the time. The sheriff's department said the deputy was on his way to work when he witnessed the crime and intervened.
The sheriff's deputy is on administrative leave while the investigation is underway.
St. Louis County police said at this time it’s unclear if there was any relationship between the victims and the suspect.
St. Louis County Police spokeswoman Officer Tracy Panus would not say whether the suspect intentionally hit the man, but said, “I can’t get into his mind, but I would say if you make a U-turn and drive into opposing traffic onto a sidewalk, I would say it’s pretty apparent what your intentions are.”
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