ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man is due in court later this week after being charged in connection with an attempted drive-by shooting in the city’s O’Fallon neighborhood.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement, the shooting occurred on July 13 on the 4100 block of East Lee Avenue.
Police said the victim was standing outside his parked car when he noticed a vehicle approaching. A passenger in that passing vehicle, Andy J. Watson III, 27, fired several shots at the victim.
Multiple bullets struck the victim’s car but the victim was not wounded, police said. The vehicle Watson was riding in fled the area.
Investigators said the victim recognized Watson as his child’s mother’s boyfriend. The victim told police he had been sent threatening text messages from a number he believed was Watson’s.
A motive for the shooting was not disclosed.
At the time of the shooting, Watson was out on bond for a prior first-degree assault charge from the circuit court, police said. After arresting Watson, police said they found a gun at his house.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Watson with first-degree assault, first-degree property damage, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, and two counts of armed criminal action. Watson is currently being held without bond. He will next appear in court on August 7 for a detention hearing
According to the police, Watson has prior convictions, including a 2023 being a felon in possession charge for which he was on probation.