ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Highway Patrol will help ºüÀêÊÓƵ police monitor Interstate 70 in the city after a woman was killed and a teenager was critically injured in separate shootings this month along the portion of I-70 that extends through ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ police Chief John Hayden said state troopers will focus on weekend evening hours with periodic enforcement between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The increased presence on Sundays will be from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Highway Patrol Capt. John Hotz, a spokesman at patrol headquarters in Jefferson City, said he didn’t know precisely how many troopers would be in ºüÀêÊÓƵ but estimated six or eight. ºüÀêÊÓƵ police Sgt. Keith Barrett said the patrol’s work in ºüÀêÊÓƵ would be limited to I-70.
State troopers traditionally don’t patrol in the city. The weekend push is partly an extension of what began in 2019, with the city asking for help from the patrol.
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At least 11 people have been hurt or killed in shootings on I-70 in ºüÀêÊÓƵ since last April. The shooting scenes stretch across 5 miles, from near downtown to Goodfellow Boulevard. Police have said there is no indication any of the shootings were related.
This month has been particularly violent. On April 14, 32-year-old Latasha Cole of Jennings was shot and killed along westbound I-70 near Cass Avenue. Her bullet-riddled car overturned on a grassy shoulder there, just before Madison Street. Investigators said someone in a sedan pulled alongside Cole’s car and opened fire, then sped away.
The latest victim was a 17-year-old boy shot in the shoulder, hand and leg about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday as he drove east on I-70 near Goodfellow Boulevard. He told officers he was driving when he heard the shots and then felt pain. The teen was hospitalized in critical condition.
Police have released no information on a suspect or possible motive in those shootings.
Hayden, however, said in a statement released to the Post-Dispatch on Thursday that most highway shootings aren’t instances of road rage or random violence. He said most are between people who know each other.
“Through the investigations, it would appear as though the victims and potential suspects are people who are at least loosely acquainted with each other,†Hayden said.
Solving highway shootings can be tough. “Difficulties arise,†Hayden said, “when the victims don’t see who was shooting at them, and when any ballistic evidence is potentially scattered on the highway or in the car from which the shots were fired.â€
The police department released the chief’s statement but said he was not available to take any questions about the shootings or the highway patrol’s expanded role.
The highway patrol enforcement is being directed out of the patrol’s headquarters with input from Gov. Mike Parson.
Highway patrol Lt. Eric F. Brown said, “Traditionally over the years we’ve always patrolled the highways in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County but typically not in the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ.â€
The patrol has provided help in the past when ºüÀêÊÓƵ police have asked. The patrol helped in 2017 and again in 2019, the year troopers were assigned to task forces in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.
In 2019, the city asked for patrol help on interstates 44, 64, 55 and 70. At the time, Parson said the patrol would launch “surges†on highways in ºüÀêÊÓƵ aimed at apprehending violent criminals and freeing up city police to deal with high-crime areas. The primary focus then was to have four to six troopers help patrol I-70. But troopers also worked at different times on other interstates in the city.
Barrett, the city police sergeant, said the 2019 program was for short-term assistance from troopers for traffic enforcement.
Other shootings along I-70 over the last year in ºüÀêÊÓƵ include:
• A woman shot in the arm Sunday told police her fast driving probably upset the gunmen. The 24-year-old woman was shot on the highway north of downtown, near Seventh Street. At first she thought two men had thrown rocks at her car, but later realized she’d been shot.
• On Jan. 29, a man was shot several times while driving eastbound at the Carrie Avenue exit. The man, 40, told police he realized he was being followed by a white truck, which drove around to his vehicle’s passenger side. Someone in the truck began firing shots at him.
• On Dec. 15, three people were injured when someone fired gunshots at a car also traveling eastbound near Carrie Avenue. Two of the victims were in the vehicle that was hit by gunfire, and one of the victims was a passerby hit by broken glass.
• On Sept. 30, a man driving near Union Boulevard was shot in the leg by someone in a passing sedan.
• On May 15, 53-year-old Leonard Ward of Ferguson was fatally shot along a ramp leading to westbound I-70 near West Florissant Avenue. Authorities said a back seat passenger killed Ward, who was in the front seat, then dumped his body on the side of the ramp. Brian Williams, 57, is awaiting trial on murder charges.
• On April 13, 2020, a man was shot in the arm while driving west on the interstate, near Grand Boulevard.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to exclude a shooting on June 5 because, even though a man was found along the shoulder of the highway near East Grand Avenue, the victim told police he had been shot on Meramac Street in south ºüÀêÊÓƵ.