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“I’m in the house by eight,” said Renee Wright of north St. Louis as she questions lawlessness, especially in O’Fallon Park, as she speaks before St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy and Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore during a meeting of the Downtown Neighborhood Association held at Central Library on Monday, July 8, 2024. “I’m scared for my mom,” she added.
ST. LOUIS — A spate of shootings and illegal fireworks activities following Fourth of July celebrations downtown has reignited criticism that the city isn’t doing enough to prevent mass disturbances and gun violence.
But police Chief Robert Tracy blamed the holiday chaos on “some individuals” who were a small percentage of the thousands out that night. He added that police responded quickly.
“We were able to contain it and mitigate it and move people on safely,” he said.
The illegal fireworks and shootings both happened around midnight Thursday, two hours after official celebrations ended. The incidents over the entire weekend included shootings downtown that killed one person and wounded multiple others.
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St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy speaks to city residents alongside Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore, left, during a meeting of the Downtown Neighborhood Association held at Central Library on Monday, July 8, 2024.
Some downtown community leaders now say that Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ office and Tracy were unprepared for the holiday weekend and the potential for violence. The events were expected to drive questions at a Downtown Neighborhood Association public forum Monday night with Tracy, Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore and representatives of Jones’ office.
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Jones called the July 4 violence a “tragedy” and attributed the violence to “too many guns on our streets.”
“My heart goes out to all of the victims, their families, and the entire St. Louis community,” Jones said. “The simple fact is this: there are too many guns on our streets. A small group of individuals with easy access to firearms have put a cloud over a day when thousands of residents got to enjoy their Fourth of July in downtown St. Louis safely.”
Those comments didn’t satisfy critics who characterized Jones’ and public safety leaders’ response to the incident as a security failure.
Citizens for a Greater Downtown St. Louis said in a statement this weekend that witnesses saw groups of young people carrying “backpacks full of illegal fireworks” gathering in Kiener Plaza early before the official fair, Celebrate St. Louis, and then shoot fireworks into the crowd as soon as the show ended.
“We acknowledge that staffing is short and the demands are great, especially on the holiday, but we can’t invite 50,000 guests downtown and then allow their safety to be threatened to the point that they vow never to come back,” the group wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “City leadership and SLMPD continue to minimize this continued violence downtown and refuse to be accountable for addressing these problems.”
Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who represents part of downtown St. Louis, said Jones’ statement was “completely dismissive of the seriousness of what took place.” Spencer is challenging Jones in the 2025 mayoral election.
“To sum this up as just a few bad actors is dismissive of the fact we have let our downtown become a gathering spot for violent behavior on a regular basis,” Spencer said.
Tracy said criticism of the police ignores the heavy call volumes police responded to on July 4 and throughout the weekend. Police responded to more than 3,000 calls for disturbances or emergencies during that period. They also made more than 30 arrests and recovered multiple firearms and scores of illegal fireworks, he said.
He declined to say how many police officers were staffing the July 4 holiday but said patrols included both uniformed and plain-clothed officers. “There was enforcement out there to keep the peace,” he said.
St. Louis police said at least 20 shootings were reported citywide from Thursday through Sunday.
Four people were shot near Eighth and Pine streets after midnight Thursday. About the same time, a 13-year-old boy from Florissant was shot near Seventh and Chestnut streets.
Two 23-year-old men, both from north St. Louis County, also showed up at a hospital with gunshot wounds. They had been hit by gunfire near Seventh and Chestnut streets as well. The men told police they had been watching people shoot off illegal fireworks when they were shot.
On Saturday evening, a 15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet as he walked near Memorial Plaza on Market Street near Stifel Theatre. Early Sunday, two people were shot in an apparent robbery in the Kiener West parking garage on Chestnut Street. About 2 a.m. Sunday, a man was shot to death in the 4400 block of Grace. Two other people, a man and woman in their 20s, went to the hospital on their own with gunshot wounds from that incident, police said.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who represents parts of downtown and north St. Louis, attributed the shooting on the holiday to Missouri’s lax gun control laws.
“Even if you have a police officer on every corner, state law ties our hands to really try to hold people who have guns accountable,” Aldridge said.
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