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Man charged for deadly shooting of St. Louis officer, forcing couple from south city home

Thomas Kinworthy has been charged with first-degree murder, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gardner announced Tuesday

ST. LOUIS — A 43-year-old man accused of killing a St. Louis police officer and wounding another was charged Tuesday.

Thomas Kinworthy — of Satellite Beach, Florida — was charged with first-degree murder, assault of a police officer, burglary, armed criminal action, resisting arrest and unlawful use of a firearm after police said he shot and killed Officer Tamarris Bohannon in south St. Louis.

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Police said Kinworthy was involved in a shooting Saturday evening on the 3700 block of Hartford Street near Tower Grove Park. Officers said he then forced a couple out of their home and barricaded himself inside.

RELATED: 'He could have very easily shot the both of us' | Couple forced out of home by gunman accused of shooting 2 officers

When officers arrived to investigate the initial shooting, police said Kinworthy shot Officer Bohannon in the head while Bohannon searched for a shooting suspect. Sources told 5 On Your Side the suspected shooter went to a higher level in the house to get a better vantage point to shoot at the responding officers.

When other officers reacted to help Officer Bohannon, police said Kinworthy shot one of those officers in the leg.

Police sources said Kinworthy was wanted in Florida on charges of kidnapping and attempted sexual battery at the time of Saturday's shooting. 

Sources said he had a criminal history in the St. Louis area and central Missouri in the 1990s. Online court documents showed he pleaded guilty to crimes in Missouri multiple times between 1990 and 1999, including receiving stolen property, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.

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