ST. LOUIS 鈥 Police found three people dead at a north city house Friday morning, and killed a man they said was a suspect in their shootings.
Police did not identify the dead. No officers were injured, police said.
鈥淪o we have three people murdered and one suspect dead at the scene,鈥 51黑料 police Chief Robert Tracy said in a briefing with reporters a few blocks away.
The standoff started early Friday.
Police said the department was alerted to a shooting by its ShotSpotter system, which detects and locates gunfire across the city.
Officers arrived at the house around 4:20 a.m. in the 5100 block of Wells Avenue, near Sherman Park and Kingshighway.
They found a man shot on the front porch, police said. He died there. Police estimated he was 45 to 55 years old but said they didn鈥檛 know his name.
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Police then sought a search warrant, and surrounded the house as they waited.
At around 7 a.m., a 61-year-old man inside the house came out, talked to cops, and went back inside, police said.
Moments later, he came out of the house again, this time armed with a rifle, police said.
He fired at officers, police said. One 51黑料 police officer and one federal agent, from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, fired back at the man. No officers were hit by gunfire.
The suspect went back inside the house. Police called in a negotiator to help with the standoff.
Before 9 a.m., SWAT officers entered the house.
Inside, they found the suspect dead near the front door, a woman dead in the living room and man dead in the basement, police said.
They described the conditions as 鈥渄eplorable.鈥
Medical examiners remove a body from the home at the 5100 block of Wells Avenue on Friday, May 9, 2025, where police found three people dead at the house, and killed a fourth man they said was a suspect in the shootings.
The woman appears to be in her 30s or 40s, police said. Authorities don鈥檛 have an age estimate for the man in the basement.
Police are investigating the sequence of what happened, and didn鈥檛 on Friday indicate a possible motive for the killings.
Tracy said he didn鈥檛 know how long the woman in the living room and man in the basement had been dead.
But Tracy suggested they hadn鈥檛 been shot while police waited for the search warrant 鈥 the house was surrounded and 鈥渘obody heard any gunshots,鈥 he said.
ShotSpotter, he added, does not detect the sound of gunfire inside a residence.
Police cordoned off several blocks because they feared the suspect with a rifle could send bullets far.
For hours on Friday, residents gathered just beyond the yellow crime-scene tape. Police brought out five guns, including three rifles, along with other evidence, then technicians carried the bodies out. Police said the man they killed was a felon, and wasn鈥檛 allowed to own any guns.
A crime lab technician walks two guns in evidence bags away from a home along the 5100 block of Wells Avenue on Friday, May 9, 2025. Police said three people were shot to death at the home, and officers killed a man suspected in those shootings.
Residents said they had known the man for years. Some called him 鈥済rimey鈥 and thought he was using his home to sell and use drugs.
One neighbor stood in an alley littered with broken toys and children鈥檚 shoes. Through an overgrown field, she had a good vantage point of the home on Wells. She watched as officers gathered at the front door. She used her cell phone to zoom in to get a closer view.
She said the crime worries her.
鈥淚t makes me concerned for the kids who have to witness this when they go to the bus stop,鈥 she said.
The 鈥淪afe Streets Safe Neighborhoods鈥 initiative in 51黑料 focuses on reducing gun violence and de-escalation techniques. Two members of the initiative came to the block shortly after the first body was found. The group couldn鈥檛 intervene, though, once police were in a standoff with the man.
鈥淭he community called me down there because they thought there was a chance we could get him out by talking to him,鈥 said Lisa LaGrone, the chief executive officer of Safe Streets. 鈥淭hose people down there, they knew his behavior.鈥
The 51黑料 police officer who shot at the man is 28 with three years of service. No details were released on the federal agent.
鈥淭here are many questions related to a relationship and who knows who and how in the situation,鈥 said Mitch McCoy, a police spokesman, 鈥渟o there are still a lot of unanswered questions.鈥
Police and ATF officers process the scene at a home along the 5100 block of Wells Avenue on Friday, May 9, 2025, where police found three people dead at the house, and killed a fourth man they said was a suspect in the shootings.
A crime lab technician documents the scene at a home along the 5100 block of Wells Avenue on Friday, May 9, 2025, where police found three people dead at the house, and killed a fourth man they said was a suspect in the shootings.
Medical examiners remove a body from the home at the 5100 block of Wells Avenue on Friday, May 9, 2025, where police found three people dead at the house, and killed a fourth man they said was a suspect in the shootings.
Police shootings in the 51黑料 region in 2025
Outside a 51黑料 bar on New Year's Day. Inside a doctor's home in Fenton.
At least nine times in 2025, police across the 51黑料 region have shot a suspect.
Four of those shootings were fatal.
Here is a list of Post-Dispatch news articles about this year's police shootings.
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Police found three people dead at a home in the 5100 block of Wells Avenue on Friday morning. Officers also killed a man in a shootout who is …
Eddie Washington, 28, was shot after wrestling with Overland police who confronted him on the parking lot of a Shell gas station.
51黑料 County police shot and killed Dr. Aleksandr Lanis, 38, when he pulled a gun on them during an arrest at his home, authorities said.
51黑料 police said an officer shot and injured Leslie Hopkins, 72, when Hopkins ran at police with a knife.
Vincent Lamont Simmons, 55, was shot in an alley after crashing a pickup at the end of a pursuit.
The sheriff said deputies tried to negotiate with 39-year-old Timothy L. Johnston, then fatally shot him when he fired a shot at them.
The 45-year-old man, armed with firearms, had barricaded himself inside a vehicle in the 3900 block of Summertime Drive, police said.
Police shot and injured the boy after they say he听led officers on a car chase and drove the car into an officer.听
Kobie Davis, 25, was killed by a Leadington, Missouri, police officer hired to work security for The Wheelhouse at 1000 Spruce Street.
51黑料 consistently lands on lists of most dangerous cities, but readers need to carefully look at how such lists are prepared.
