Five shot, including city police officer, at high school alumni gathering
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. October 10 2019— Five people were shot, including a St. Louis police officer who was seriously injured, during a bonfire for Normandy High School alumni late Saturday in north St. Louis County.
Police were called at 11:43 p.m. to the 10000 block of Crown Point Drive where they found the victims, who were all taken to hospitals. Initially, St. Louis County police believed there were four victims, but released updated information Sunday morning stating that five people, four men and one woman, were shot.
The officer is 28 years old and the other men injured are ages 48, 31 and 44, and the woman is 31.
The officer was attending the event when a fight between two groups broke out and they began shooting into the crowd, according to a police memo obtained by the Post-Dispatch. The officer, a detective assigned to the first district in St. Louis, was admitted to the ICU, according to the memo.
As of Monday morning the police department reported that the officer is in critical condition but is stable. County police have said that none of the five people shot suffered life-threatening injuries.
The St. Louis Police Officers’ Association posted a message to its social media pages saying that one of the department’s officers was shot twice during the incident. The officer has worked with the St. Louis city police department for five years.
The Normandy Annual All Alumni Bonfire has been taking place for at least 10 years without incident, attracting between 1,500 and 2,000 people, said organizer Bonita Richardson. She said the organization also hires police officers and security guards to help manage the crowd.
“We give back to the students and to the school every year and this is something everybody looks forward to,” she said. “This is so unfortunate.”
She would not comment further, saying the organization would make a statement about the incident in the coming days.
Another organizer, Anthony Clark, said the event’s proceeds are given to the school and have helped pay for athletic equipment, musical equipment and other items in the past. He said the event raises about $10,000.
Fliers advertising the bonfire show the event was to take place from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at 10035 Crown Point Drive.
St. Louis County police spokeswoman Officer Tracy Panus said there are no suspects at this point,and could not confirm whether a St. Louis police officer was involved in the shooting.
“It appears that during the event, a disturbance broke out between several individuals leading to the shots being fired. This does not appear to be a random shooting,” according to police.
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