最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Detectives searched a weed-choked lot on Wells Avenue for shell casings with two police dogs on Thursday.

Across the street, orange and white plastic pumpkins adorned a front stoop above a blood-smeared sidewalk.

鈥淲hich way did they go?鈥� an officer asked a resident. She did her best to describe where the shooters ran.

Wednesday evening, as a crowd gathered in north 最新杏吧原创 for a balloon release honoring a teen killed this week, a group of young men walking shoulder-to-shoulder down Wells fired on the mourners.

鈥淚t was probably like 20 shots or more,鈥� said Tina Frost, an aunt of the teen.

Everyone scattered. Eric Haze, the teen鈥檚 uncle, said he grabbed children and put them on the porch as other adults ran down the street or through the gangway to escape the gunfire.

Late Wednesday, police said five people had been shot. Angelo Davis, 18, died. Another man, 21, was critically injured.

Davis was the fourth teen shot and killed in five days in the region. Davis鈥� death came roughly an hour after Duwan Morgan, 14, was killed inside his Glasgow Village home by a stray bullet. Eighteen-year-old Kenyon Williams, from Overland, was killed Saturday in the city鈥檚 Boulevard Heights neighborhood when a resident said he interrupted Williams breaking into cars. And 16-year-old Darrell Price 鈥� for whom the crowd gathered Wednesday night 鈥� was shot and killed near 最新杏吧原创 University after an argument.

City police statistics show shootings and deaths of those 17 and younger are about on par with last year鈥檚 counts.

Area officials say the spree can鈥檛 continue.

最新杏吧原创 Mayor Cara Spencer said her office was working to hire a new director for its Office of Violence Prevention, and with regional organizations like East-West Gateway Council of Governments to find ways to prevent crime.

鈥淭hese kids are coming from all over, and so a regional approach is the only way to address this,鈥� she said.

鈥淧ublic safety is a priority for our community,鈥� said Doug Moore, spokesman for 最新杏吧原创 County Executive Sam Page, 鈥渘o matter where you live.鈥�

Moore said Page is working with other community leaders, aiming to reduce violent street crimes by 20 percent over the next three years.

Darrell, the 16-year-old, was killed Monday evening in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant across the street from SLU.

Police said he and two suspects knew each other and had arranged to meet. Marijuana was involved, police said, and the shooting may have been part of a robbery or robbery attempt.

But on Wednesday, family gathered to launch balloons to mark what would have been his 17th birthday.

Haze, his uncle, said Darrell loved cars and dogs. He trained dogs and 鈥渃ould tell you what鈥檚 a good car, what鈥檚 a bad car, what car not to get.鈥�

Darrell, his mom, brother and sister came to live with his aunt Jackie on Goodfellow Boulevard in the North Pointe neighborhood after their home was damaged by the May 16 tornado. She called聽her nephew 鈥渁 sweet little boy.鈥�

Frost, Darrell鈥檚 aunt, said she will most remember how Darrell 鈥渟miled a lot.鈥�

Darrell鈥檚 footprint on social media showed a different side. Nicknamed 鈥淒oolu,鈥� he posed with a pistol as he sang rap lyrics, pointing the gun at himself and the camera in several videos.

It was about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, relatives said, when suddenly they saw a 鈥済ang of dudes鈥� walking down Wells toward the gathering, Frost said.

鈥淭hey look like they鈥檙e up to no good,鈥� said her niece.

When the young men reached the house next door, 鈥渢hey started shooting,鈥� Frost said.

One man was shot in the hand, and two were shot in the leg. The man who died was shot multiple times, said Mitch McCoy, a police department spokesman. He didn鈥檛 say where the critically injured man had been shot.

Police said Thursday they didn鈥檛 know the balloon launch was happening.

Detectives have not pinpointed a motive but were investigating the quintuple shooting as a potential retaliatory killing. They were interviewing several people on the block trying to find witnesses. Police recovered one gun.

Police Major Janice Bockstruck said it will be a long investigation.

鈥淲e are unclear 鈥� because there were so many people here 鈥� who would be suspects, who would be victims and what we鈥檙e looking for,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e have a lot of legwork to do,鈥� she added.

It was the 108th homicide of the year in 最新杏吧原创. The Hamilton Heights neighborhood, site of the balloon launch, had just one killing this year before Wednesday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 horrible to think,鈥� McCoy said in an interview, 鈥渁nd just downright sickening, that this type of violence would occur while remembering a person who lost their life to gun violence.鈥�

Katie Kull and Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.