Man Dead, Reportedly Shot By Mother In Ballwin Overnight

A man has died after being shot by his mother during an overnight incident in Ballwin.

Updated at 10 a.m. An 81-year-old woman shot and killed her 41-year-old son early this morning at the mother's residence in the 700 block of Clayworth Drive, Ballwin police said in a statement. The shooting occurred around 1 a.m. today, police said. In the statement Ballwin police said they got the call from Johanna Walker, 81, who was wounded in her right hand. Her son, Brian Walker, was found with gunshot wounds in his upper torso, police said. Both were taken to Mercy Hospital, where Brian Walker was pronounced dead shortly before 2 p.m. His mother was admitted; police said her injuries were not life threatening. Johanna Walker told police her son had attacked and injured her with a large knife. When he came at her a second time, police…

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St. Louis County Police Chief Wants to Arm School Officials With Guns

In the wake of the Newtown, CT school massacre, St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch will visit schools this week to discuss increasing security, including putting guns in elementary schools.

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch and police officers will begin visiting St. Louis County schools Monday morning, according to KMOV. (For instant updates follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter.) Fitch said he's received numerous calls from area schools concerned about security since Friday's mass shooting in a Newtown, CT elementary school.  Fitch acknowledges that most high schools and some middle schools, including those in West County, have armed school resource officers.  However, elementary schools are not normally protected by officers. Fitch wants to see armed resource officers or armed school officials in those schools, according to KSDK. He points out that Sandy Hook Elementary School conducted threat drills and locked its …

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Karl Frank Jr.

11:33 am on Friday, March 8, 2013

LOL. I don't know who you think you saw...but it wasn't me.   more ›

Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting: One Week Later

A St. Louis area religious leader with Milwaukee ties says 'lack of intellect' and frustration are often behind attacks like the Sikh temple shooting and such tragedies will continue.

Authorities now say a 40-year-old Army veteran acted alone in last Sunday's shooting of six people at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. As reported by Oak Creek, WI Patch, the shooter is identified by police as Wade Michael Page who was shot and killed by police at the scene. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Page was a white supremacist and tried to recruit others to participate in the shooting rampage. He reportedly used a 9mm handgun and multiple magazines of ammunition. Five men and one woman, between the ages of 41 and 84, were killed in the shooting, according to investigators. Officials said they are pursuing several leads, but don't yet have a motive. Many around West County, including religious leaders, spoke with…

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West County Reacts to Deadly Wisconsin Temple Shooting Rampage

A West County religious leader warns that a shooting like the one at the Milwaukee area temple could happen anywhere. Seven are dead, including the suspected gunman.

West County Reacts to Wisconsin Temple Deadly Shooting

Seven people are dead after a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin Sunday. Now, West County religious leaders share concerns as they learn more about the tragedy.

Sunday's shooting at Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, left seven people dead, including the suspected gunman. Police reportedly shot and killed the gunman, but have no motive yet for the attack. A police officer was also shot several times, but is expected to live.  It's an incident that's having an effect even in the St. Louis area, including the Dar-Ul-Salam Mosque in West County, at Weidman and Manchester Roads.  It's the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis's largest Muslim mosque. Ghazala Hayat with the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis tells Patch that although Sikhism and Islam are very different religions, they share some similarities the news is sure to affect West County mosque members.  "I'm …

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Police: Still Working to Solve Mother-Daughter Shootings

Police are waiting for lab results in the shooting deaths of former Parkway students Amy Freeman Burton and her daughter, 13-year-old Ainsley.

Police are still waiting for lab results in the shooting deaths of Amy Freeman Burton, 37, who graduated from Parkway West High School and her 13-year-old daughter, Ainsley, who attended Ballwin's Claymont Elementary School. The two died May 7 night after being shot inside their San Francisco Bay area home. Police said that 13-year-old Ainsley Freeman most likely did not shoot herself, but they are still waiting for evidence analysts to determine whether it was a murder-suicide situation or a double homicide. Initial autopsy results show that Ainsley and her mother each died from one gunshot to the head. It is still unclear whether Freeman Burton's wound was self-inflicted, but that is not being ruled out, Bretzing said. "Until we get …

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UPDATED: Second Person Charged in Pizza Delivery Driver's Weekend Murder

A second person is in jail, charged in connection to the ambush, shooting and killing of a former Parkway South graduate from Ballwin.

St. Louis County police said Shermell Crockett, 20, is in custody at the St. Louis County Jail. He is charged with one count of second degree murder, one count of first degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action. Crockett, of the 2100 block of Rosebud in Hillsdale, is currently being held on a $500,000 cash only bond. He is the second person to be charged in connection to the weekend murder of an Imo's Pizza delivery driver. Daniil Maksimenko, 22, of Ballwin was shot and killed early Saturday morning while delivering a pizza in Hillsdale around 12:45 a.m. Saturday. Maksimenko, who graduated from Parkway South High School in 2008, was confronted and shot multiple times, including in the head. (Read Previous Story: Parkway South …

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UPDATE: Man Charged, Man Wanted in Connection to Murder of Parkway South Grad

A 20-year-old is now charged in connection to the shooting death of a Ballwin man and Parkway graduate who was ambushed, shot and killed while delivering pizza this weekend.

St. Louis County police tell Patch Chester Romelle Woods, 20, is charged with second-degree murder and robbery in the shooting death of Daniil Maksimenko, 22, of Ballwin.  Maksimenko, who graduated from Parkway South High School in 2008, was confronted and shot multiple times, including in the head, while out on a pizza delivery call in Hillsdale around 12:45 a.m. Saturday.  (Read Previous Story: Parkway South Graduate Murdered Delivering Pizza) Woods, of the 2100 block of Rosebud Avenue in St. Louis County, is being held on $250,000 bail at the St. Louis County jail, according to police. Authorities said he made his first court appearance Monday, but was actually charged on Sunday. Woods is not charged with the actual shooting of …

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"All Clear" After Shooter Threat Puts Rolla Campus on Lockdown

Officials at the Missouri University of Science and Technology issued an "all clear" after a suspected shooter put the campus on lock down Thursday morning.

Many students from the St. Louis area, including Town and Country and Manchester, attend Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. Therefore, Patch is providing an update on the search for a gunman who campus officials said put the school on lockdown Thursday morning. Officials at the university issued an "all clear" after a suspected shooter put the campus on lock down Thursday morning. School officials said in a press release that the person in question has been located and taken into police custody. (Click here to read statements issued by the university - www.mst.edu.) On its website, the university is reporting that no shots were fired on campus and no injuries reported, but as of 10 a.m., the university was still on …

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