ST. LOUIS — With the Fourth of July falling on a Tuesday this year, it was a long holiday weekend for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
According to an MSHP report released Wednesday, there were four drownings, six boating crashes and eight people killed in 390 traffic crashes that occurred between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Tuesday across the state. Troopers also made 116 driving-while-intoxicated arrests, 10 boating-while-intoxicated arrests and 21 drug arrests during that time.
Two of the holiday weekend's deadly incidents occurred within the St. Louis region, according to MSHP.
Hamsa Mohamed, a 41-year-old St. Louis man, drowned Sunday after jumping from a cliff at Big River, near Rockford Beach in House Springs, MSHP said. He had attempted to float but did not resurface from the water. He was not wearing a life jacket.
In New London, 43-year-old Terri Rucker of Bowling Green died after a head-on collision with an ambulance on U.S. Highway 61. Rucker was pronounced dead at the scene by Marion County paramedics. The driver and passenger of the ambulance sustained serious injuries, MSHP said.
In 2022, MSHP reported one drowning, nine boating crashes and 11 people killed in 1,069 traffic crashes across Missouri during the Fourth of July holiday. State troopers made 146 driving-while-intoxicated arrests and 13 boating-while-intoxicated arrests.
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