(ST. LOUIS) — An overnight shooting at a party in a downtown St. Louis office building injured at least 10 people and killed one person, St. Louis police chief Robert Tracy said at a press conference Sunday afternoon.
Eight out of the 11 victims, including the deceased, were minors, according to St. Louis police. Five of the victims were male, while six were female.
The victims are between 15 and 19 years old, according to police.
The deceased victim has been identified as Makao Moore, a 17-year-old boy, according to St. Louis Police Department Sgt. Charles Wall.
A 17-year-old girl was trampled when trying to run from the shooting, resulting in serious spinal cord injuries, Tracy said.
Police recovered multiple firearms and shell casings at the scene, including “AR-style rifle pistols” and a handgun, according to Tracy.
The suspect in custody is a17-year-old male who lives outside of St. Louis, Tracy said.
The shooting took place on the fifth floor of an office building in downtown St. Louis, according to authorities.
The initial investigation suggested the social gathering was organized through social media direct messaging platforms, though law enforcement does not currently know how the attendees got access to the office building.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones attributed the shooting to Missouri’s “lax” gun laws, including the state legislature’s February decision to continue allowing minors to carry firearms, as well as downtown St. Louis being a late-night gathering place for young people from outside the city.
“Rather than celebrating 10 fathers [and] father figures, families in our very own community are dealing with the unthinkable,” Jones said at the press conference.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, tenfold,” she said of the shooting. “My heart goes out to all of the families in pain today. All those attending will carry with them the scars, physical and mental, from the gun violence that tore into their lives.”
Missouri has some of the weakest gun laws in the country, according to the nonprofit anti-gun violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
The state does not require a background check to buy or own a gun, according to Everytown.
Anyone 19 and older can legally conceal and/or open carry a gun in Missouri without a permit, according to the law, and the state also recognizes concealed weapon permits issued by other states.
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