KINLOCH POLICE OFFICER SAYS HE ACCIDENTALLY SHOT MOTORIST

A Kinloch police officer said he accidentally shot a motorist during a traffic stop early Saturday then chased the man for 25 miles into Maryland Heights.


The officer, Walter Wilson, the former police chief in Kinloch, said he stopped the man about 3:40 a.m.  at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Suburban Avenue in Kinloch.


He suspected the motorist, a 24-year-old man from Bridgeton, was involved with a drug transaction, Wilson said.


Wilson says he reached through the car window to grab the man's keys in the ignition, and his drawn gun accidentally fired.  The shot hit the man in the shoulder.


The motorist sped away, knocking Wilson to the ground.  Wilson jumped into his patrol car and gave chase.


Officers from several departments joined the chase, which ended at a cul-de-sac on Galaxy Place in Maryland Heights.  Wilson and other police officers blocked the suspect with their cars.  Wilson fired several more shots at the motorist, St.  Louis County police said.

Police did not find any drugs on the suspect, Wilson said.  The suspect was unarmed.




Kinloch Police Department