ST. LOUIS — A riot helmet may have saved the life of a Missouri State Trooper who was responding to riots in downtown St. Louis on Monday night.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol tweeted photos Tuesday night of a riot helmet that had a bullet hole through its face shield. A trooper was wearing the helmet and driving when someone shot into his car.
"Last night, a @MSHPTrooperGHQ Trooper responding to rioting in St Louis narrowly averted serious injury," highway patrol said. "A bullet penetrated his moving vehicle & face shield of the riot helmet on his head. The Patrol continues to protect Missourians tonight & every night no matter the risks."
The patrol didn't give any further information on the incident.
After violence and looting Monday night, a 9 p.m. curfew was set for St. Louis as businesses and residents braced for another night of chaos. However, most of the city remained quiet.
A curfew can help police get control, said St. Louis police Chief John Hayden.
“There are so many businesses, it’s impossible to protect them all at the same time, so what we do is we try to protect ourselves as we’re protecting businesses, but it is very difficult when you have 300 people running around all over the place,” Hayden said.