‘Armed cruising’ causing concerns, Missouri cops say. Video shows people firing shots
During a busy night on Independence Day, surveillance video showed at least a dozen cars parked at a gas station in St. Louis.
One by one, the video points out individuals armed with guns and at least one wearing a ballistic vest.
Then, something prompts people to leave, and several are seen getting into their vehicles and clearing out.
Weeks later, at the same gas station, it appears to be a similar scene.
Surveillance video shows at least two people holding long guns near the fuel pumps on July 29.
In the distance, someone starts firing into the air next to several parked vehicles, including a semi.
Back at the pumps, another person holds the gun up and fires a few shots into the air. They take off in a car and fire more shots while hanging out of one of the back passenger doors.
Police with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department call this “armed cruising,” and they say it’s caused concerns for this north city neighborhood.
The surveillance videos were released late last week to bring attention to the matter.
“Throughout the last several weeks we have noticed an increase in the number of armed individuals who are participating in cruising in the area of Broadway and Grand,” St. Louis Officer Michelle Woodling said in an emailed statement to McClatchy.
According to the police statement, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief John Hayden acknowledged “that people have the right to bear arms.”
“However,” the police statement continued, “when people fire shots into the air and at people, they are breaking the law.”
“Cruising” isn’t a new problem as people have gathered for years to socialize and show off their vehicles, Hayden explained to KTVI and other media outlets. But as the chief described, it’s not only become a traffic issue — “armed cruising” poses a major public safety issue.
Police say they plan on increasing their presence in the area for the next several weekends to deter shots from being fired. KMOV reported police are particularly focused on the gas station shown in the surveillance videos: the Energy Express Travel Center, a Phillips 66 gas station.
In an effort to prevent too many vehicles from gathering there, KMOV reported that the gas station closed off all but one entrance to its lot.
Employees at the gas station told KSDK they counted more than 120 shell casings left on the property.
The police chief told media outlets they’ve made few arrests since the incidents were caught on video.
Anyone with information about the individuals in the surveillance video is asked to call the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.