New Year’s Eve shooting calls decline by more than 50 percent in St. Louis City

By Jenna Rae

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — Gun violence is a problem in downtown St. Louis regularly, and New Year’s Eve is no different. Residents captured video early Sunday morning of shots ringing out. They said they woke up to the aftermath of shattered windows and shall casings on sidewalks.

However, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s shooting and shots fired call numbers paint a different story.

“Last night at midnight they started to shoot off, then between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. it was just constant gunshots,” Eric Kelly explained.

Kelly’s lived downtown for nearly two years now. Those gunshots he hears pierced the windows of his apartment building on Locust and 10th.

“This morning I came down, came out the door, 9mm shells, full clip, nine of them, right in front of our door and down on the corner,” Kelly said.

Shards of glass still remain on a nearby sidewalk Sunday evening. Citizens for a Greater Downtown St. Louis, a local advocacy group, sent out a thread of tweets Sunday with videos showing chaos over New Year’s Eve. One video shows guns being fired off into the air, another shows dozens of people loitering on 10th and St. Charles behind the Lofts at 1 Thousand, people dancing on top of cars, and bikes and cars revving engines.

“It’s not comforting, but it’s not so new anymore. So, my reaction is today is less than it has been when I first moved here a couple weeks ago,” Kelly said.

News 4 requested data from St. Louis police early Sunday morning to see how many shooting and shots fired 911 calls they received this year compared to others. On New Year’s Eve in 2021, there were 542 calls. In 2022, a six-year high, the department received 684 calls. This year, the number of calls dropped off significantly, with only 324 calls for shots fired.

Despite the drop in 911 calls, residents on social media and on the street are asking city leaders to step up.

“It’s just completely out of control and maybe we need some change in leadership. Somebody’s gonna have to speak up,” Kelly said.

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