Shots fired at police, firefighters in Maplewood (near St Louis)

[thegriz]

Shots fired at police, firefighters in Maplewood

A sharpshooter with the Missouri Highway Patrol waits on alert on the porch of a house on the 7400 block of Zephyr Place this morning as a gunman remains holed up in the area.
(Christian Gooden/P-D)

By Patrick M. O'Connell and Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/21/2008

UPDATED, 7:52 a.m.

Police with rifles have swarmed a neighborhood in Maplewood this morning after a gunman fired shots at police and firefighters.

Three emergency personnel -- a combination of police and firefighters -- have been shot, said Tracy Panus, a spokeswoman with the St. Louis County Police Department.

The gunman is still on the loose. The area is near the 2400 block of South Big Bend Boulevard, near Zephyr Place in Maplewood.

A house and vehicle are on fire, but firefighters aren't going near them because of the gunfire.

It all started unfolding before 6 a.m. today, when firefighters were responding to a vehicle fire there.


Police have called for "an officer in need of aid" and several ambulances have been dispatched, though no word yet on injuries. Dozens of police cars from a mix of area departments are there. Many are crouching behind police cars with their weapons drawn.

Officers have surrounded a home that apparently is on fire.The home is near the vehicle fire.

Paul Kieselhorst, who lives about three blocks from the incident, said he heard four shots as his wife was leaving for work. Then, he heard a fifth shot.

He saw an ambulance racing from the scene with lights and sirens blaring. He said police tactical units have evacuated a few people from adjacent homes.

"They still have the shooter holed up and people are at risk," he said.

Anuj Srivastava, 22, said he manages the 7-11 store nearby. One of his workers called police to report the truck fire. Srivastava watched from his second-floor window.

"There's easily at least 50 cops surrounding my building alone," Srivastava said. "When the truck exploded, I saw the fireball coming up over the house 150 feet up."


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Still a developing story - on Fox news this morning they showed an image taken from a helicopter and it appeared one the firefighters was still laying motionless next to the firetruck. His fellow firefighters appeared to be taking cover behind the truck and radioing for help. Very sad. Fox reported that 2 firefighters and one police officer had been shot.

 

[yesit'sloaded]

Anyone want to bet the fires were set as bait?

 

[ilbob]

Anyone want to bet the fires were set as bait?

could be.

could also be they were interrupted in the middle of something and decided to shoot it out.

 

[thegriz]

Anyone want to bet the fires were set as bait?

That's one reason I posted this story. I'm curious as to the motive. Anybody wanting to cause trouble could bait and ambush emergency personnel. However, this seems a little haphazard. It's probably just the work of a nut job or some really angry stupid person.

 

[Eric F]

Even to bad guys Firefighters had been a long time leave alone kind of thing. More and more frequently this is hapening. I think this is the second time this year and 5 times last year firefighters had been shot on the job.

As a firefighter I seriously dislike this trend!

 

[yesit'sloaded]

It certainly wouldn't be the first time someone has done this. Three men down is telling me that this is more than some thug that accidentally caught a house on fire and had a pistol tucked in his shirt.

 

[BattleChimp Potemkin]

Too much Grand Theft Auto?

 

[HB]

Holy Crap, thats a mile from my house

Maplewood is generally a pretty decent place to live. It borders the city so you get some stuff from over there. We had a shooting behind our house last spring and Maplewood had a home invasion involving rape at the end of the school year. The scary thing is I now a cop that lives about 5 blocks from there.....

HB

 

[Eric F]

Story just got updated. A firefighter has died.

A rookie firefighter was killed and two police officers were wounded when a gunman opened fire in Maplewood early today

 

[joop]

Sad times. Why would anyone shoot a firefighter? I hope they get the gunman soon.

 

[ilbob]

Why would anyone shoot a firefighter?

Probably for similar reasons to why they would shoot anyone else.

 

[Eric F]

I hope they get the gunman soon.

From the sounds of things the guy burned up in the house fire. I hope the guy smokes because he wont be needing matches where he is going!

 

[Crunker1337]

Scary... but isn't it strange how such a response only happens when it's a government employee being shot at? I mean, what would happen if it was just a citizen getting shot at... not much, I bet.

 

[ilbob]

Scary... but isn't it strange how such a response only happens when it's a government employee being shot at? I mean, what would happen if it was just a citizen getting shot at... not much, I bet.

An attack on a government employee is considered something akin to an attack on government by government.

An attack on mere citizens is considered acceptable losses as long as it does not result in a massacre at the ballot box.

 

[FLA2760]

When I lived in NYC it was common practice for EMTs to wear bullet resistant vests in the high crime areas.

 

[ilbob]

When I lived in NYC it was common practice for EMTs to wear bullet resistant vests in the high crime areas.

Years ago I worked for a security guard company while I was in school. Another guard company had a contract to work at some of the Chicago projects and one time I had a sit down chat with their downtown night supervisor. Interesting things he told me. They actually had an armored car they used inside the projects. one of the things they used it for was to drive emergency medical personal (CFD) to the buildings. they would park the truck so it gave them as much cover as possible for them to get in and out of the buildings. he said the guards had few problems in the buildings but the CPD would not even come in without a lot of backup, and the CFD would not bring an engine in without a lot of police presence, but you could get a couple guys in by armored car and they could bring people out the same way if they had to. he said the residents often refused to leave to go to the hospital after whatever treatment they got from the CFD.

Some time later I heard that the security guard company's contract was canceled because they refused to use their armored car to transport cops into the buildings. they felt it was too dangerous even with the armored car.

 

[joop]

ilbob & rachen, I understand that there are some twisted people out there. I'm just commenting on how sad it is that people who risk their lives for both the good and bad people are being targeted.

I can understand bad guys shooting at cops, but there's no excuse for shooting a firefighter/emt/etc. Of course, I'm not implying that it's acceptable to shoot cops.

 

[bogie]

Some parts of Maplewood are okay. Some aren't...

So, I'm gonna guess the guy was cooking meth, and something blew...

 

[ilbob]

I can understand bad guys shooting at cops, but there's no excuse for shooting a firefighter/emt/etc.

I can understand shooting someone who is trying to kill me (or someone I care about) but shooting someone for sport is not something I can understand at all.

 

[Rachen]

Years ago I worked for a security guard company while I was in school. Another guard company had a contract to work at some of the Chicago projects and one time I had a sit down chat with their downtown night supervisor. Interesting things he told me. They actually had an armored car they used inside the projects. one of the things they used it for was to drive emergency medical personal (CFD) to the buildings. they would park the truck so it gave them as much cover as possible for them to get in and out of the buildings. he said the guards had few problems in the buildings but the CPD would not even come in without a lot of backup, and the CFD would not bring an engine in without a lot of police presence, but you could get a couple guys in by armored car and they could bring people out the same way if they had to. he said the residents often refused to leave to go to the hospital after whatever treatment they got from the CFD.

Some time later I heard that the security guard company's contract was canceled because they refused to use their armored car to transport cops into the buildings. they felt it was too dangerous even with the armored car.

This is simply nightmarish. What kind of projects were these? The description in this thread is more suited to a Supermax prison facility- the block where they keep the worst of the worst, inmates serving life sentences with absolutely no possibility of parole, than a housing project. Simply wow

 

[bogie]

The victim: http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan_Hummert/502538737

 

[Crunker1337]

A meth lab explosion seems likely. It would make sense for the criminals; I mean, you don't just shoot at cops because. They were probably just trying to give themselves covering fire as they escaped. And it looks like they're going to get away with it, at least for the near future...

 

[ilbob]

This is simply nightmarish. What kind of projects were these? The description in this thread is more suited to a Supermax prison facility- the block where they keep the worst of the worst, inmates serving life sentences with absolutely no possibility of parole, than a housing project. Simply wow.

I don't recall which projects had the armored cars. not all of them did. I think the worst of them was Robert Taylor Homes. I don't know who Robert Taylor was, or what he did to get a housing project named after him, but if it was me or I was a descendant of Robert Taylor, I would sue the city for desecrating the good name of Robert Taylor.

One of the places I used to be posted at now and then was within a few blocks of Cabrini Green (another infamous project). The place was like a fortress, and they expected the guards to make rounds outside. It was not as unsafe there as you might think. Everytime I was there it seemed quiet and peaceful right around the place. The place was a bible school and I always figured God was keeping an eye out on it even if he had to work OT to keep such a place safe.

 

[Treo]

Interesting question if the shooter didn't burn up in the house, what next? do the cops go through & do a door to door sweep? is it handled as a civil criminal investigation or an act of terrorism?

 

[Technosavant]

As near as I've been able to piece together from the local reports, the initial fire was in a truck in a neighbor's driveway, so it certainly seems like this nutjob was baiting the firefighters. Neighbors are saying that the guy was a recluse and rather antisocial, so while it could have been meth, it seems more likely that it was somebody with mental problems. I'd think a meth cooker wouldn't have tried to shoot it out with firefighters after the lab went awry; he'd have high tailed it out of there.