ST. LOUIS — Summer Fun STL camps started Monday at seven schools and seven recreation centers in St. Louis. The summer youth programs are part of the city’s anti-violence initiative, announced a couple of weeks ago.
Summer programs are being held at Nance Elementary, Oak Hill Elementary, Ashland Elementary, Walbridge Elementary, Patrick Henry Downtown, Peabody Elementary and Yeatman Middle School.
It comes at a time when two teenage girls were shot in downtown St. Louis Saturday evening.
Those camps will run through July 29, providing recreational and educational activities and three full meals a day to 700 children ages 5-17. City officials said they are using $1 million in grant funding to provide the camps, programs and pop-up events for kids.
It's part of lawmakers' non-enforcement solutions to help keep kids safe this summer.
At the same time, St. Louis police will be deploying patrols throughout the city, using data to determine peak times and locations for enforcement.
Public safety officials have also developed an incident mass notification system with federal partners, highway patrol and local agencies to help the City of St. Louis with investigating mass shootings and large-scale incidents.
In addition, St. Louis police officers will begin 12-hour weekend shifts, starting June 10.
When city officials announced the program a couple weeks ago, interim police chief Lt. Col. Michael Sack said, “The result of this is we’ll have an increased number of staff between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m., which is essentially the window we have with most of our issues, whether it’s related to cruising, traffic violations or violent crime.”
In an incident downtown, Saturday, a 16-year-old girl was shot, and another teenager was grazed by a bullet, police said. They were both conscious and breathing when taken to an area hospital.
So far in 2022, 58 children have been shot in St. Louis, according to 5 On Your Side data.