ST. LOUIS — No doubt, being robbed at gunpoint was a frightening experience for a 32-year-old woman who was just waiting on a bus near Union and Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis.
According to investigators, the woman told St. Louis police she was standing at a bus stop at about 9 p.m. Tuesday when two strangers - dressed in all black - approached her, pointed a gun at her and demanded she hand over her purse and cell phone.
"Something needs to be done," neighbor Penelope Smith said.
"You just got to shake your head to it you know. It's just a shame," said Ricardo Jacobs, who owns a nearby business.
The crime has people in the northside neighborhood talking because police said the 19-year-old's accomplice is just 14 years old.
The armed robbery happened just down the street from Ricardo Jacobs' business.
"Fourteen years old," Jacobs said. "I just can't believe it. Somebody influenced him or he saw something on social media or the older guy who was with him."
The woman wasn't hurt. Police said after robbing her, the teen and another guy ran off.
A police officer and his K-9 partner tracked the two young suspects to an alley on nearby Arlington Avenue. They found both hiding in a dumpster. The woman's stolen items were found on the 14-year-old boy, and a gun was recovered.
"I just think leaders in the community need to do more and team up with recreation centers and give these kids somewhere to go," Jacobs said.
"I'm very upset about this," Smith said. "Lots of young people are out here at all times of the night and evening robbing people with weapons. I want to know where are they getting the weapons."
That's a question James Clark, vice president of the Metropolitan Urban League of St. Louis, also asked. Clark has been tracking recent teen-related crimes in St. Louis and said the crimes are getting bolder and the criminals younger.
"We have to hold our young people accountable, but then we also got to offer them a way out. The real issue is they don't believe it's real until it's too late, so we've got to get very serious about having the conversations so that our young people can lower that wall and they can begin to listen," Clark said.
"I'm not going to accept it as being the new norm because it's not," Smith said.
The 14-year-old boy was being held in a juvenile detention center as of Wednesday night.
The man who was with him, 19-year-old William King, was charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. He remained in jail without bond, according to police.
Resources for crime victims
If you have been a victim of a crime or know someone who has been, 5 On Your Side has compiled a list of resources.
The Crime Victim Center of St. Louis has multiple programs to support victims of crime. Crime Victim Center’s programs range from direct services to crime victims as well as “creating awareness and change within the systems they encounter.”
Life Outside of Violence "helps those harmed by stabbing, gunshot or assault receive the treatment, support and resources they need to find alternatives to end the cycle of violence."
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has the Neighborhood Healing Network, which serves people who have experienced crime, violence or been the victim of an incident that caused trauma.