ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Two men are facing charges — one of whom remains in the hospital — after a St. Louis County police officer shot a suspect during an exchange of gunfire following a police pursuit Tuesday morning. He and two others had fled to the county from St. Louis after shooting at a marked police vehicle, police said.
At around 2:30 a.m., marked patrol units from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to looting in the area of Natural Bridge Avenue and Union Road, St. Louis County Police Department spokesman Ben Granda said during a Tuesday news conference.
When they arrived, a maroon Chevy Impala began shooting at a marked police vehicle. St. Louis police chased the car up Interstate 70 to Goodfellow Avenue and into Jennings, at which point St. Louis County police vehicles joined in the chase.
The chase ended in a dead-end on the 7300 block of Esterbrook Drive in Jennings.
“I believe the suspects when they entered the dead-end didn’t know it," police said.
Three people got out of the car and started running toward a wooded area, and one of the suspects, 21-year-old Melvin Harris, fired shots at St. Louis County officers, police said. Police returned fire, hitting him once. He was listed in critical condition, but a police spokeswoman said he is expected to survive.
No officers were injured, police said.
A 25-year-old suspect, Anthony Taylor Jr., was arrested at the scene and the third suspect was able to escape. Police were searching the wooded area Tuesday morning.
Two guns were found at the scene and taken into evidence.
Harris, a St. Louis resident, and Taylor, a Florissant resident, were each charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and resisting arrest for a felony. Bond for each was set at $250,000. A booking photo of Harris has not been taken because he remains in the hospital.
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