Share and Follow
A St. Louis airport officer fatally shot a man wielding a knife outside a terminal early Friday morning, according to police. The incident occurred without causing injury to anyone else.
The shooting took place at approximately 1 a.m. at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, as reported by St. Louis County Police spokesperson Vera Clay.
The location of the incident was near the light rail line, which provides transport for travelers to the terminal and is situated outside the security checkpoint, according to airport maps available online.
Following the shooting, the rail service to Terminal 1 was suspended for roughly three hours. During this time, shuttles were used to transport passengers from alternative drop-off locations. The rail line resumed operations later that morning, and the airport continued its usual operations, stated Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, the airport director.
Clay noted that officers had initially observed the man, whose identity has not been released, in a restricted area and he refused to comply with requests to leave.
Clay said the man showed officers a knife when they tried to get him to move. Officers used Tasers but the man continued to advance toward the officers and one of them fired their gun, fatally wounding the man, Clay said.
“We don’t believe this was an individual trying to catch an airplane or coming into town,” Clay said.
She said part of the investigation will be focused on determining why the person was there and needed to be removed.
The two officers were part of the airport’s police department and had six months and one year of service on the force respectively, as well as earlier law enforcement experience, St. Louis County police said in an emailed statement.
.