ST. LOUIS — Three people were shot and killed in the City of St. Louis Wednesday afternoon.
This brings the total number of people shot and killed in the city in the month of July to 50.
So far this year, 150 people have been shot and killed — that’s up from 113 at the same time last year.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson talked about violence in the city during her COVID-19 briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“And that is a crisis, of course, for those families affected and the friends of those folks that are affected. But it's a crisis for our city and all of us as well. It is not any consolation, but it is happening across the country in every major city. I think it is. There's a lot of stress right now. There's a lot of pain in our community. People are settling their differences with guns. And in our state, there are very few, hardly any gun regulations,” she said.
The triple fatal shooting happened in St. Louis’ Walnut Park West neighborhood.
In June, three people were shot to death in the Walnut Park West neighborhood. In June 2019, there were no reported homicides. In June for the Walnut Park East neighborhood, three people were shot to death compared to one homicide in June 2019.
In 2019, the Walnut Park area (Walnut Park East and Walnut Park West) was among the areas selected for ‘Cure Violence.’
Cure Violence is a Chicago-based nonprofit that treats violence like a disease with a three-pronged strategy: find and interrupt conflicts, find and treat high-risk people and change social norms in violent communities. The Board of Aldermen approved $5 million in funding for the program back in October 2019.
5 On Your Side reached out to Lewis Reed’s office Wednesday evening for an update on the site.
Previously, organizers hoped to have the site up and running by Aug. 1.
“It’s unlikely it will be open on Aug. 1. They just now started hiring. Once hired, it takes 6-8 weeks to train and get running. It’s safer to say end of September or early October realistically,” Mary Goodman, Legislative Director for Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, said in an email.
Missouri’s special session on violent crime began on July 27. They'll be back in Jefferson City on Aug. 5.
Among the topics lawmakers are discussing: police and public safety employee residency requirements for St. Louis.
The proposal would eliminate the residency requirement for St. Louis law enforcement as long as the officer lives within an hour of the city. Some believe the residency requirement hinders recruitment for the police department, which is 130 police officers short.