ST. LOUIS — A mass shooting in downtown St. Louis after the city's July Fourth event left seven people hospitalized, but details surrounding the event weren't shared by the city's police department until 12 hours later.
The shooting happened after midnight the morning of July 5 near the intersection of 8th and Pine streets and left seven people with bullet-related injuries, the department said. The victims included a 13-year-old, three 18-year-olds, a 20-year-old, and two 23-year-olds. All of the victims were later listed in "stable" physical condition by hospital personnel.
Police have not shared details on possible suspects involved in the shooting.
The shooting also damaged property in the area, including the soon-to-open Burger 809 in Citygarden and the Peabody Coal building.
5 On Your Side was initially made aware of the shooting through viewer emails and social media videos. Police blamed a dispersion of the shooting's victims, coupled with the station's new policy surrounding "Real-Time Alerts," for the delay in sharing information.
Four of the shooting's victims, the three 18-year-olds and the 20-year-old, were privately driven to an area hospital. The 13-year-old was transported by EMS to another area hospital. A passing driver took the two 23-year-olds to a local hospital for treatment.
Police said they weren't aware that the shooting's victims were dispersed to multiple local hospitals around the region until hours into their investigation and were subsequently unaware of the shooting's scale.
A police source telling us there were more than 300 teens downtown in the hours after the fireworks show.
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Officer Mitch McCoy said 5 On Your Side's initial reporting lacked context.
"It took several hours for us to figure out the victims were connected to a single incident and that is why a real-time alert was not issued," McCoy told 5 On Your Side. "When there is a story that involves multiple victims we care about the investigation for the victims and the community."
The news comes nearly a month after the department transitioned from sharing crime information with local news stations to issuing "Real-Time Alerts" through the department's X, formerly known as Twitter, account. The alerts are usually issued by the department to the area's news stations during critical incidents. The department previously told 5 On Your Side that an alert would only be issued for:
- Confirmed homicide investigations
- Shootings that result in someone being critically injured
- Carjackings that result in serious or critical injuries
- Vehicular and pedestrian crashes that result in accident reconstruction investigators to respond
"It’s important to note that there may be unique situations when a Real-Time Alert is not issued," the department said in an email to 5 On Your Side in June. "For example, if detectives are called to investigate a death but it’s not immediately known to be a homicide until after the Medical Examiner’s review. In these instances, the department will share the information on its website. If a criminal incident does not meet the criteria for a Real-Time Alert, details about the incident will be shared later that same day or the next business day on our website."
In the daylight, St. Louis Alderwoman Cara Spencer, now a mayoral candidate, spoke about the open carry ban passed last summer.
"We saw a very distinct decrease in kids openly carrying firearms, particularly in downtown," Spencer said. "I was hearing reports from neighbors, residents, business owners that they were seeing a real decrease in that."
Burger 809 hasn't even opened yet and had its windows shattered by gunfire.
Spencer is calling for "our St. Louis development corporations, Greater St. Louis, and other partners to really come to the table and make sure we're supporting our Citygarden and the businesses around there, which are fantastic reasons for people to come downtown."
Compton Heights resident Michael Sonntag is grateful he left downtown before the Arch was ablaze in patriotic colors on Thursday night.
"We came in the afternoon but purposefully chose not to come at night because we were afraid of something like that," Sonntag said.
Gun Sense: For the Common Good is a group working to reduce St. Louis gun violence through faith-based programming. Sonntag is one of its leaders. He said he's frustrated by the Fourth of July festivities being overshadowed by the violence.
"It feels like we are always talking about kids in these shootings," Sonntag said. "This week was a particularly bad week. There were a lot of children shot this week."
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones called the downtown shooting "a tragedy."
This is a developing incident. This article will be updated with the latest information as it is released.
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