ST. LOUIS — St. Louis police on Tuesday identified the man and woman killed in a triple shooting near The Grove.
The shooting happened a little before 8 p.m. on Monday night on the 4300 block of Gibson Avenue in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood.
The surviving victim, a 21-year-old woman, drove herself and the two other victims to the hospital. Police said 47-year-old Tonette Brown and 45-year-old Stephen Bowden were later pronounced dead. The 21-year-old remained in serious but stable condition as of Tuesday.
Police announced Bowden as a suspect in the shooting.
The shooting stemmed from a personal dispute among family members, police said, adding they were not sure of the exact cause of the conflict.
A popular business district is just blocks away from where the shooting happened, but business owners who spoke to 5 On Your Side spoke said they hadn't even heard about it.
John Rosenzweig has been a manager at Sauce on the Side's location in the Grove for four years now.
"I love the city. I've always loved the residents, all the businesses and things like that that you can visit, but the crime definitely brings it down a little bit," he said.
Even in the middle of the weekday, there's a lot of activity in the popular business district along Manchester Road.
That's one of the many things Sheryl Myers loves about it, as the owner of City Boutique and Dog On It Hot Dogs.
"I like the neighborhood because it's very diverse. You get different ethnicities of people. There's so much to do here. You have the bars, you have the nightlife, the daylife, which is the food, the shopping, so I love everything about The Grove," she said.
Rosenzweig described what happened Monday night as "upsetting."
"It's definitely a little bit of a scary situation. It's just kind of a crazy world," he said.
As a board member for the district, Myers gets crime reports weekly and described the shooting as rare.
"It's really no disturbance to us. It doesn't make me nervous. It doesn't shake me because for the most part, the neighborhood is pretty stable," she said.
Myers said she always feels safe in The Grove.
"I walk around this neighborhood at all times of night. I don't feel unsafe or anything like that," she said.
Right across the street though, Rosenzweig has a different perspective.
"I would say within like the last year or so, crime has definitely gotten worse," he said.
Rosenzweig said their biggest issue has actually been with car break-ins.
"We've had numerous employees have their windows busted out and things like that, as well as some customers," he said.
Even though Myers hasn't dealt with that, she said, no matter where you live, you have to be aware of your surroundings.
"It's just not in a bad neighborhood or good neighborhood. It's just anywhere you go," she said.
Ninth Ward Alderman Michael Browning sent out a statement about the shooting. He said while it's a tragedy, it's important to recognize this was an isolated incident and none of The Grove businesses or patrons were a target.
If you have any information on Monday night's shooting, you're asked to call the St. Louis Police Homicide Division directly at 314-444-5371 or anyone with a tip can contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).