ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – Two brothers have been charged with a double shooting in Soulard last month.
The shooting injured a St. Louis fire captain and 26-year-old Rain Stippec.
Stippec’s family said the arrests are the first step in bringing them some closure to this case.
James Hartman, 23-years-old, and Ryan Hartman, 33-years-old, are charged with assault and armed criminal action.
According to police documents the Hartman brother pulled up behind a vehicle parked along south 7th street. One brother got out of the car, walked up to the victim’s car and shot into it multiple times.
Police said cell phone records, bank records and multiple surveillance videos were used to identify the suspects.
Rain Stippec was one of the victims in the car. She was shot multiple times in the back and is still in the ICU recovering.
Rain’s sister Katie said they are relieved that an arrest was made but they still don’t know the motive behind the shooting.
“Our brains run a million miles a minute, and I think everyone wants to come up with their own stories or make up rumors, but we don’t have anything substantiated we want to know why and hopefully we will find out soon,” said Katie.
She said they also do not recognize the suspects pictures or names.
Rain is not showing any signs or paralysis or brain damage but Katie said a lot of her internal organs were injured during the shooting.
Friends are hosting a dinner and auction fundraiser for Rain on March 26th called, “It’s a great night for Rain.”
Also on March 26th there is a “Dace in the Rain” pub crawl to benefit Rain.
