Latest news with #St.LouisMetropolitanPolice
American Military News
21-05-2025
- American Military News
St. Louis cops didn't help man shot in head because their shift was ending, video shows
Two former St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers are accused of leaving a shooting victim to die because their shift was about to end. Footage obtained by Missouri station KMOV First Alert 4 appears to show then-Officers Austin Fraser and Ty Warren searching a park where they came across mortally wounded Urayoan Rodriguez-Rivera, who had called 911 to say he was going to kill himself. The cops are surprised to discover Rodriguez-Rivera on the ground and still breathing after taking the call. 'Damn, he's right there,' one officer can be heard saying on footage recorded by Warren's body-worn camera. The officers acknowledge Rodriguez-Rivera isn't dead. But when Warren suggests they bring the victim somewhere for help, his partner shoots down that idea. 'We ain't taking s–t,' Fraser said. 'I get off in 30 minutes.' Fraser then suggests to Warren they 'cruise around and come back,' before they walk away joking and wait for other officers to respond. 'They're gonna find this (expletive), and we're gonna be like, 'Oh, (expletive), you found him,'' Fraser said to Warren. The pair return about 10 minutes later pretending to have just arrived on the scene for the first time. A third officer calls for emergency services while Fraser and Warren stick by their plan to play dumb. Fraser and Warren then exit the scene a second time, leaving other officers to handle the situation. 'You can't just leave,' another officer is heard telling the duo as they do just that. The 29-year-old victim was then rushed to a St. Louis-area hospital, where he died from a gunshot to his head 40 minutes after calling 911. The state of Missouri accused the former cops of 'reckless disregard' for their handling of that September 2023 incident, according to First Alert 4's report. The Missouri news outlet obtained the footage last month after filing a records request. Rodriguez-Rivera's death was reportedly ruled a suicide, but no gun was located at the scene. A police department representative told the Daily News both officers had been relieved of their duties. 'The two individuals are no longer employed by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,' Mitch McCoy, the department's public affairs and information director, said in a statement. 'While we are unable to comment on specific personnel matters, SLMPD holds its officers to the highest of standards. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken if an officer is found to have violated policies.' Warren's peace officer license was revoked because of the incident, according to First Alert 4. A disciplinary hearing for Fraser was scheduled for Tuesday with the state of Missouri. State officials told the Daily News that results of that hearing are made official after 30 days. A statewide license to practice law can't be reinstated once revoked. ___ © 2025 New York Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
SLMPD adds officer David Lee to memorial statue
ST. LOUIS – Today at the Civil Court Building, family, friends and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police (SLMPD) honored fallen officer David Lee. Lee's name was added to the 'Police Memorial' statue, honoring the service he gave to the community. In September 2024, Lee died in the line of duty when he was struck by a passing car when he was responding to an accident on I-70. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Chief Robert Tracy spoke at the event, thanking Lee for making a difference in the lives of others. 'David's mother and sister are here with us today. I have no words that could ease your pain, but please know that your son and your brother is a hero,' Tracy said. 'He lived a life of purpose.' Lee's sister, Danielle Williams, spoke to FOX 2, expressing pride about the great things David did for his community as an officer. 'I'm the proudest little sister ever,' Williams said. 'I've always been proud, but to hear all the good things about (Lee) makes me even immensely more proud.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
A Man Asked 4 Little Girls to Help Him Find Their Mom. Then They Watched Him Shoot Her in the Back of the Head: Police
A Missouri man is accused of murdering a mother and her unborn child in front of five children, including her four daughters. On the afternoon of April 23, Vanier T. Jones allegedly approached the four young daughters of 35-year-old Christina Lynn Rentchler and asked them if they knew where he could find their mother, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case and obtained by PEOPLE. The affidavit says that the four girls — and one other child who was at the home — then allegedly watched Jones pull out a gun and shoot their mother in the back of the head. St. Louis Metropolitan Police arrived to find Rentchler "not conscious and not breathing," the agency said in a release. Soon after, emergency responders pronounced both Rentchler and her unborn child dead on the scene, said the release. Det. Scott Peniston of the SLMPD writes in the affidavit that Rentchler "was shot multiple times, and in the back of the head." He also notes that the medical examiner later determined that Rentchler had been in the second trimester of her pregnancy at the time of her death. Missouri Department Of Corrections Vanier Jones Vanier Jones Related: He Confronted the Boy Who Allegedly Assaulted His Daughter. The Boy Then Beat Him to Death With a Bat, Prosecutors Say Jones also allegedly shot another woman, whom SLMPD said was "conscious and breathing" when they arrived on the scene. The victim is not named in the affidavit or the release, but both note that she told police Jones had been staying with her prior to the shooting. "She stated [Jones] had gotten angry and shot her. She stated that she then played dead, and heard [Jones] ask [Rentchler's] children where their mother was prior to [Jones] killing [Rentchler]," the affidavit reads. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Jones has "multiple prior felony convictions" and was convicted of second-degree assault in 2023, but had "absconded from his federal supervised release at the time of the homicide," per the affidavit. He is now being held without bail and facing 17 charges in total, including: two counts of first-degree murder, five counts of endangering the welfare of a child, eight counts of armed criminal action and a single count of both attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. Jones does not have a lawyer at this time and will make his next court appearance on May 12. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been created to help Rentchler's two young daughters. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Teen, 18, Dancing on SUV Falls and Dies After Being Struck by Firetruck: ‘It's Tragic that She's Not Here'
An 18-year-old girl was fatally struck by a fire truck on Saturday, April 26, in St. Louis, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police said. Nyla Simmons was dancing on top of an Escalade around 11:20 p.m. on Saturday, police said. Moments later, the car made a left turn, and she fell. The teen was hit by a firetruck that was responding to an emergency call. All the drivers remained at the scene, police said. An investigation into the accident is ongoing. Simmons was attending a friend's prom send-off before the accident, her parents, Everett and Letrice Simmons, told First Alert 4. She was the youngest of five children and a Parkway North High School class of 2024 graduate. She was set to start cosmetology school at Grabber School of Hair Design on Monday, April 28. 'We aren't ever going to be the same after this... I'm still in shock right now,' her parents said. Related: Teen's Legs Amputated After She Was Hit By Car While Attending Volleyball Tournament: 'Her Life Has Changed' 'We just wanted the best for Nyla, the incident is just tragic the way she died but, that's what hurts the most, the way she died. Nyla was out having fun, that's what she liked: having fun, hanging out with her friends,' Letrice said. 'I'm highly distraught that I don't get to see what she was going to become,' Everett said. 'We want all her people and her friends to take this and learn from it,' Everett said of his daughter's tragic death. Letrice added, 'Don't get on top of a car, ya'll, just don't get on top, just be safe.' 'We've all been young before, we all have done some type of thing where it could have ended up bad for us,' her parents said. 'Nyla was going to be an entrepreneur, Nyla was going to be great in this world, and it's tragic that she's not here,' Everett said. Related: Teen Hit by Truck While Driver Was Adjusting Baby's Pacifier. Family Says His Brain Injury Is 'Not Survivable' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Parkway District step team, which Simmons was a member of, called her a "force of talent" and a "light that shined brightly both on and off the stage," per Fox 2. Representatives for the St. Louis Police and Fire Departments did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for more information on Monday. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After state takeover, St. Louis police should maintain community-based intervention efforts
A St. Louis Metro Police car outside Carnahan Courthouse in downtown St. Louis (Clara Bates/Missouri Independent). The imminent return of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police to state oversight is rooted in the belief that policing remains a crucial force for crime reduction. Safer streets, in turn, fuel business growth and community development. These legislative developments — and the changes that come with them — will undoubtedly affect ongoing crime reduction initiatives. Yet, St. Louis stands at a pivotal moment. By official measures, the city has made progress toward reducing violence since 2020-2021, when there was a nationwide spike. Policing will play a key role in sustaining this progress, but other factors are critical as well. Research on strategic 'focused deterrence' policing, dating back to Boston's Operation Ceasefire in the 1990s, has a key takeaway: sustained violence reductions require both effective law enforcement and authentic community engagement. St. Louis has embraced this approach. Public-private partnerships have built a coalition comprised of public health leaders, community organizations, local government, clergy, businesses, credible messengers and residents to form a 'network of capacity' for violence prevention and intervention. This has since expanded to the Save Lives Now! Initiative and other community-driven efforts embodying a proven model: focused law enforcement, cognitive change and services. Such complementary police and community efforts target immediate violence and its harms while addressing risk factors to reduce violence in a sustainable way over the long term. As policing oversight shifts, it is crucial to assess these community-driven initiatives. We co-lead a research team at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, studying the implementation of community-based violence intervention strategies and whether they're making an impact. We've observed meetings, interviewed key players, analyzed administrative data, and supported efforts to track outcomes and build accountability. Government-led initiatives often face public skepticism, and even good ideas can falter in execution. Yet St. Louis offers promising signs. Examples include the Office of Violence Prevention's collaborative relationships with both St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and community-based service organizations in its Community Violence Intervention; the business community's early commitment to supporting violence reduction that has since expanded to become the regional Save Lives Now! Initiative; and neighborhood residents working directly with city departments to address location-specific violence risks in the St. Louis Public Safety Collaborative. Additionally, the Violence Prevention Commission funds and coordinates youth events to create safer, supervised spaces. Each effort reflects recommended implementation practices and helps strengthen neighborhoods, build trust with police, and support economic growth. This collaboration is promising, but the ultimate goal of these initiatives is to reduce violence. Recent data offers cause for optimism there as well. An analysis of official crime incident data shows that from 2022 to 2024, homicides dropped by 25% and aggravated assaults with guns declined 26%. In the 11 neighborhoods where the Office of Violence Prevention first focused its efforts, those official numbers dropped by 42% and 31%, respectively, during the same period. While more work is needed to ensure that all members of the community feel safe, the results suggest that community-based resource mobilization combined with targeted policing can have an impact and these efforts should be expanded to other areas of the city struggling with violence. Public policy is full of examples of once-promising programs that ran out of funding or faded over time. St. Louis cannot afford to let that happen here. Violence shapes both how residents experience their communities and how outsiders perceive the city — affecting everything from quality of life to economic investment. Maintaining a comprehensive, collaborative strategy is essential but it requires continued support and resource allocation from local leaders and state officials coupled with advocacy and engagement from community residents and organizations. St. Louis has reached a point where it has a rare opportunity to redefine what public safety looks like — one that blends strategic policing with community-based initiatives. This has proven to be a blueprint for successful violence reduction in other cities and it has begun to improve conditions for the better in St. Louis. Even as changes unfold, the city must hold onto this momentum by leveraging the community's growing capacity to effectively respond to violence.
