ST. LOUIS — Gunfire in downtown St. Louis closed courtrooms early on Tuesday.
Police are still looking for the person who fired shots near Tucker and Market Street.
Officials don't think the Civil Courts Building or anyone inside was the intended target, but bullets did go through two windows on two separate floors.
“That's kind of scary, but it's becoming all too common these days,” Jude Hopper said as he left city hall.
St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts said shots were fired Tuesday afternoon around 2 p.m. near Firemans Memorial Park right across from the civil courthouse.
“We had a couple of bullets that hit the courthouse on the eighth floor and on the sixth floor. Nobody thought nobody hurt. Thank God nobody got hurt,” Betts said.
Across the street at Carnahan Courthouse, Lamar Johnson’s hearing just returned to session about 20 minutes before this shooting happened.
Judge David Mason informed the courtroom what was going on.
“However there may be people that feel like they need to leave so I figured to tell them what I was just advised so I’ll leave that to the people in the audience to make their decisions,” Mason said.
Sheriff Betts said there have been issues in this park before.
“We have these guys that gather over here in the park every day and they do drug deals and all this kind of stuff. So, if they get into it with each other, then you get this random kind of gunfire,” Betts said.
Hopper said he was just at city hall to pick up records and really did not expect this to happen, but he wants to see change.
“I think the more laws they pass; the more criminals have them. People aren't able to protect themselves. So, I think it needs a fresh look and people need to be able to protect themselves. More budget for the police...of course...they do a fine job,” Hopper said.
Sheriff Betts said they were searching for a suspect who last drove down 14th Street in a black Chevy Malibu.
St. Louis police said they were called a short time after shots were fired when a person arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound.
A witness said the man was shot during an argument at the park, and his truck was seen driving away shortly after the gunfire. The man refused to speak to detectives before being taken into an operating room for surgery. He was listed in critical condition with stable vital signs.
Police are still investigating and gathering more information.