ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOX/AP) - Two officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department were hospitalized after being shot in north St. Louis County while chasing a possible murder suspect.
Police says the officers, who are both in the 20s, were injured by gunfire near West Florissant Avenue & Northwind Estates Drive on Wednesday afternoon. The officers were taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in the Central West End.
St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said one officer was struck in the leg and the other was struck in the abdomen. The one struck in the abdomen was in "very critical and very unstable condition," but is "better off" after having surgery.
He was still in critical condition.
"I'm going to ask the public to pray for this officer because this is a rough time. We just got officer struck by a car the other day. In fact, we were just here to visit him," Hayden says outside the hospital. "This is a rough time, as you all very well know, for law enforcement and for fire department as well."
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Four people in the car were taken into custody. One of the suspects was shot and was being treated at the same hospital as the officers, said Lt. Col. Steve Sack with the St. Louis County Police Department. His condition was not available. Sack said he could not say if the suspect was shot by police.
Hayden said the critically injured officer has been with the department 3 1/2 years. The other officer has been with the department 2 1/2 years. Their names have not been released.
The shooting happened just blocks from where Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson officer, fatally shot Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, on Aug. 9, 2014, setting off months of unrest. Wilson was not charged and resigned from the police force in November 2014.
On Monday, two St. Louis officers were critically injured when they were struck by a vehicle on Interstate 64 as they responded to a crash. Four other people also were struck, leaving three of them critically injured.
“It’s just a tough time to be a first responder,” Hayden said. “We’re hearing about critical incidents daily, and it’s just tough. They’re doing everything they can to keep people safe and we keep having these critical incidents.”
A witness says she saw police in pursuit of the suspect's vehicle and saw officers and the suspect exchange gunfire. She says the suspect jumped out of the vehicle and ran on foot. That suspect and multiple others were arrested.
The shooting took place while the St. Louis director of public safety Dan Isom was in the middle of testimony before an aldermanic committee. He asked to be excused for a "very serious incident that just happened."
Isom, who oversees the police department, got up and left.
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