By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Police Chief, Paul Luster, says he feels good about the investigation into a shooting that left a house riddled with bullets and a 10-year-old with a gunshot wound earlier this month.
Police recovered more than 40 shell casings from the scene in the 900 block of South 18th Street.
The child is recovering.
“That type of behavior in our community where shots are fired into a structure, just wildly and a juvenile is hurt, that is unacceptable behavior in our community,” Luster says during an appearance on KFEQmmunity.
Calls about shots being fired came into the St. Joseph Comm Center shortly before 3:30 the morning of September 10th. Officers responded to the duplex on South 18th and discovered it had been hit by gunfire. Officers located the 10-year-old, who had been shot in the left thigh while asleep in an upstairs bedroom. First aid was administered at the scene. Emergency crews transported the child to Mosaic Life Care who is reported to be awake and in stable condition.
Luster says the child is recovering, at least physically.
“There’s associated trauma that goes with that for probably the rest of that child’s life, potentially. It’s not even sometimes about the wound, but what happened,” Luster says. “I think it’s very reasonable for any parent to think where is my child safer than in my house and in his or her bed? For something like this to happen, 100% unacceptable.”
Officers recovered more than 40 shell casings, from both a handgun and a rifle, across the street southeast of the duplex. Gunfire also struck two vehicles parked on South 18th Street.
Luster wants the public’s help in tracking down the perpetrator or perpetrators.
“We will bring those responsible to justice. I have no doubt about it. It’s something that as a community we shouldn’t tolerate. Not only just as the police department, but as a community we should not tolerate that at all.”
Lusters says the situation was very irresponsible and very dangerous.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the St. Joseph Police Department at (816) 271-4777 or submit an anonymous tip through the TIPS Hotline at (816) 238-TIPS (8477) and receive up to a $1000 reward.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ
