In less than 24 hours, nine people have been shot. Five of them were deadly, but one of these crimes ended with the good guys winning.
St. Louis police said one of the murderers was cuffed within minutes of pulling the trigger all because an off-duty officer happened to be attending a child's birthday party.
"He just reacted quickly. He acted as if he was on-duty," Lieutenant Joe Crews said.
Steven Reynolds was there when it all went down.
"We were eating and heard gunshots," he said.
Those gunshots came just feet away from a child's birthday party he was attending with Ricardo Amezcua, a Northwoods police officer.
"He looked out and he saw a man running with a gun," Joe said.
Police said that man was a murderer. He had just shot and killed Kourtney Steed, 27, in the 5900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.
"I picked up and called 911," Steven said.
Amezcua, who was off-duty at the time, took off after the suspect.
"He continued on foot through the alley and caught him in the alley and handcuffed him," he said.
Cell phone video captured by a witness later showed police taking the man into custody after the deadly shooting.
“He came around, and that’s when I told him to stop, 'Put your hands up—get on the ground,'" Amezcua said. "And he actually did. He put his hands behind and said, ‘Oh, I give up.’ And I put him on the ground and put handcuffs on him.”
"He did a good job," Steven said. "Perfect opportunity. Right time, Right place. It was just luck of the moment."
Police identified the suspect as Romello Thomas, 24. He's charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use and possession of a firearm, theft of a firearm and resisting arrest.
