ST. LOUIS—St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) posted on X the details involving their officer discharging his weapon at a knife wielding man in the 5500 block of Wells Avenue this morning.

What You Need To Know

  • A 911 call came from the Hamilton Heights neighborhood from a man who claimed a knife was pulled on him, according to SLMPD

  • Officers say when they arrived, a man around the age of 70 held a “large butcher style knife”

  • While backing up to maintain a reactionary gap, the police state they continued commanding the man until he started running at them

  • An officer discharged his weapon at the man who was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to survive

A 911 call came from the Hamilton Heights neighborhood from a man who claimed a knife was pulled on him, according to SLMPD.

Officers say when they arrived, a man around the age of 70 held a “large butcher style knife.”

SLMPD stated they issued several commands for him to drop the knife, but the man instead approached police wielding the knife “in a threatening manner.”

While backing up, to maintain a reactionary gap, the police state they continued commanding the man until he started running at them. An officer used his firearm.

The knife-user was taken by EMS to a nearby hospital and is expected to survive.

“Deadly Force is any use of force that is likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Deadly force includes any discharge of a firearm at a person,” according to SLMPD’s policies and procedures on the use of deadly force (pages 7-8). “Deadly force may be used in the performance of police duty under the following circumstances: 1. To protect the officer or others from what is reasonably believed to be an immediate threat of death or serious physical harm…”

In an August 2020, revision about the use of deadly force the revision orders officers, “when it is safe under the totality of the situation and time and circumstances permit, officers are required to use de-escalation techniques and tactics in order to reduce any threat or gain compliance to lawful commands—including scene management and team tactics such as time, distance, and shielding, should still be used unless doing so would create undue risk of harm to any person due to the exigency/threat of a situation.”

A knife was recovered at the scene and the Force Investigation Unit assumed the investigation, per police.