ST. LOUIS – St. Louis community leaders are calling for the violence to end after a Sumner High School student was shot and killed and two other juveniles were injured in separate shootings overnight.
No one is in custody for the shootings. Homicide detectives have more questions than answers and are urging anyone with information about the murder to come forward.
St. Louis police received a call for a shooting just after 9:45 p.m. in the 5800 block of Minerva, located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood. Officers arrived at the scene and found the victim, Antonio Thompson, shot outside. Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 16.
Representatives for the St. Louis Public School District say they’re deeply saddened by Thompson’s death, and their hearts go out to his friends, family, and classmates. The district will have counselors and other mental health professionals at Sumner High School to help in any way they can.
Resident Clara Homes is calling for an end to the violence. She says enough is enough.
“I’m begging; put down the guns. I’m begging. Life is too short. One minute they here; next minute they are gone,” she said.
Unfortunately, the violence continued about two hours after Thompson’s murder. Police rushed to another shooting scene, this one in the Dutchtown neighborhood on Delor Street near Virginia Avenue and found juvenile victims.
According to police, a 13-year-old boy had a graze wound to his head. A 14-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. Both are expected to survive.
Tyrone Turner, the vice president of housing and asset development for Better Family Life, says the organization is continuing its mission to oppose forces like poverty, drugs and violence.
“Better Family Life has always been there to try and provide support to families that, ultimately, deter violence that happens in many of our neighborhoods.”
