ST. LOUIS – It was just before 4 p.m. when shots rang out at January-Wabash park in Ferguson.
Police say they arrived within 50 seconds of the 911 call—only to find no victim in sight.
Shortly after, they got a second call—leading officers to a church nearby, where a teen was found with a gunshot wound to the arm.
He was treated on-site and rushed to the hospital.
“The victim arrived supposedly a few minutes prior to or really seconds prior to the. Somebody yelled and then gunshots,” said Captain Tim Harris, Ferguson police captain of Investigations. “So they all separated and it was the end of it.”
Police say it began with a dispute between a group of 18-22 year-olds.
No one is claiming to know the shooter, and investigators are reviewing video from the park and nearby church.
“But this incident that happened, I grew up here. I went to Ferguson middle. I went to McClure and never in my life have I seen anything like this,” Lorenzo Clark, a citizen, said. “So I don’t know what’s going on with these teens nowadays but they need to get a handle on them.”
The shooting comes the same day Youth Violence Prevention advocates rushed to Jefferson cCty, speaking out against a Missouri House Bill that would lower the legal concealed carry age from 19 to 18.
“It’s just okay. It’s scary! We’re already in crisis mode but it puts you even more in crisis mode. Almost like all the work you’re working towards is just backwards,” said Precious Jones, a Youth Violence Prevention advocate.
The bill, already passed by the house, would also allow guns on public transportation and in churches.
Democratic Representative Chanel Mosley says lawmakers outside urban areas don’t see the daily violence.
“They’re not in a city where they see gun violence often. Like you said, they are in rural areas or just in small areas where they don’t have those types of problems, so they don’t know what the bill will be doing to our area,” Mosley said.
Individuals like Clark have no issue with the bill.
“I don’t have an issue with lowering the age. I do believe everybody has the right to defend themselves but I do believe folks need to have some type of psych paperwork that they have to go through to be able to carry,” Clark said.
Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among children and teens in Missouri.
With this latest shooting and legislation in motion, advocates fear what might come next.
As police continue to investigate, several youth violence prevention organizations are taking action. On April 22, they’ll head to Jefferson City to present their “Safer Summer Streets” initiative, with local doctors, teachers, and community leaders sharing the real impact of youth gun violence in St. Louis.