RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. — A mall in the St. Louis area has closed as a precaution amid recent protests and riots.
A message at the top of the mall’s website said, ‘we are temporarily closed,’ on Tuesday.
The Saint Louis Galleria will remain closed through June 3.
“This decision was made as a precaution, so as not to jeopardize the safety of our shopping center community,” a spokesperson for Brookfield Properties said in an email to 5 On Your Side.
Protests have been happening across the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In the City of St. Louis, about 1,000 people held a peaceful protest on Monday. It continued for several hours.
As the sun set, a small group of agitators were violent toward police near downtown.
Some stores in the Saint Louis Galleria reopened on May 18 after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sunday night, a group of protesters gathered outside the mall in Richmond Heights. This, as protests continued around the St. Louis and across the country over the death of George Floyd.
The view from Sky5 showed police lined up blocking one of the main road entrances into the mall’s parking lot. Police also closed a section of Brentwood Boulevard in front of the mall to traffic. Protesters gathered in small groups in the area.
On Aug. 31, 2019, 23-year-old Terry Tillman was shot and killed by police in St. Louis County after a chase that started in the Saint Louis Galleria.
In November 2019, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said it planned to provide the public with more information on the incident in the ‘very near future.’
FROM NOVEMBER 2019: Officials plan to release report on fatal shooting of Terry Tillman soon
As of June 2, when 5 On Your Side asked if any more information was available, the director of operations for the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office wrote in an email, ‘Nothing right now. I would suspect we are a couple weeks away from releasing something.’
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