ST. LOUIS, MO – September 7, 2026 (STL.News) A violent Labor Day weekend across the St. Louis region has again raised difficult questions about public safety, police resources and the continuing involvement of children and teenagers in gun violence.
As of early Monday morning, at least 10 people had been shot and five killed in confirmed shootings tracked by STL.News across St. Louis City, St. Louis County and Cahokia Heights, Illinois.
The fifth confirmed shooting death occurred shortly after midnight Monday, when a man was shot and killed in the Mark Twain neighborhood of north St. Louis.
Among the weekend’s shooting victims were three young people — ages 14, 16 and 17. The 17-year-old was killed.
The weekend violence comes against a broader and troubling backdrop.
Throughout 2026, children and teenagers have repeatedly appeared in St. Louis-area shooting investigations — not only as victims, but in some cases as alleged shooters.
That creates a difficult reality that declining crime statistics alone cannot fully describe.
St. Louis can be making measurable progress against violent crime while still facing an extraordinarily serious gun-violence problem.
Both can be true, and they appear to be.
St. Louis Region – At Least 10 Shot and Five Killed
The violence began Friday evening and continued into Labor Day.
Three people were killed in separate shootings Friday night in St. Louis City and St. Louis County.
An 18-year-old man was shot multiple times in the 5900 block of Plymouth Avenue in west St. Louis. He was transported to a hospital, where he died.
Another man, identified in local reporting as 23 years old, was fatally shot Friday night during an attempted robbery at a restaurant in the 5000 block of Goodfellow Boulevard in north St. Louis.
A third man was found suffering from gunshot wounds inside a vehicle on Ruesta Drive in Spanish Lake in north St. Louis County. He also died.
By early Saturday morning, local news organizations were reporting three shooting deaths from Friday night’s violence.
The violence continued Saturday.
Three people were shot outside a bar on Virginia Avenue in south St. Louis following what police described as an argument involving two groups.
The victims — two men and a woman — suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Across the Mississippi River in Cahokia Heights, two teenagers were shot early Saturday.
One, a 17-year-old, was killed.
The second victim, a 16-year-old, was hospitalized.
The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was activated to investigate the shooting.
Later Saturday, another child was shot in St. Louis.
A 14-year-old girl was shot in the leg near Vandeventer and Laclede avenues near the Saint Louis University campus.
Police said the shooting followed a disagreement involving the girl’s mother and people associated with a nearby restaurant. The girl was transported to a hospital in stable condition.
Then, shortly after the beginning of Labor Day, another homicide was reported.
Police responded at approximately 12:30 a.m. Monday to Geraldine Avenue in the Mark Twain neighborhood of north St. Louis, where a man had been shot.
He was pronounced dead.
That shooting increased the confirmed Labor Day weekend regional tally tracked by STL.News to at least 10 people shot and five killed as of early Monday morning.
The count is an STL.News compilation of confirmed incidents across multiple jurisdictions and should not be confused with an official St. Louis City Police Department statistic.
Three Young People Shot During the Weekend
Three of the 10 confirmed shooting victims tracked by STL.News were 17 or younger.
One died.
The 17-year-old killed in Cahokia Heights and the 16-year-old wounded in the same shooting were followed hours later by the shooting of the 14-year-old girl in St. Louis.
Those incidents are particularly concerning when placed in the context of youth gun violence already documented during 2026.
Local news reports show children and teenagers repeatedly appearing in shooting investigations throughout the year.
And they have not always been the victims.
Some have allegedly been the shooters.
Juvenile Shootings Had Already Reached Double Digits
On June 24, 15-year-old Norman Hardieway was shot in St. Louis’ Forest Park Southeast neighborhood.
Hardieway later died.
At the time, St. Louis police statistics cited by First Alert 4 identified him as the 21st juvenile involved in a shooting in St. Louis City during 2026.
Police also reported that the number was 57% lower than the comparable 2022 figure.
That is meaningful progress.
But events over the following days demonstrated how quickly the statistics could change.
Two days later, on June 26, 7-month-old Kiyomi Parker was shot inside a home in the Baden neighborhood of north St. Louis.
Police officers rushed the infant to a hospital while attempting lifesaving measures.
She died.
First Alert 4 subsequently reported that SLMPD identified Kiyomi as the 26th juvenile shot in St. Louis City during 2026.
That meant five additional juvenile shooting victims had entered the city’s statistics in approximately two days.
The circumstances surrounding Kiyomi’s death made the case even more disturbing.
Police said the person who fired the gun was another child.
A 10-Year-Old Accused of Killing an Infant
Investigators said a 10-year-old boy obtained a handgun that had allegedly been stored underneath a mattress.
Authorities alleged that the child picked up the firearm and shot 7-month-old Kiyomi Parker.
The St. Louis Family Court-Juvenile Division subsequently filed a first-degree murder allegation against the boy.
Because of his age, the case remains within the juvenile justice system.
The case represents perhaps one of the clearest examples of why St. Louis’ youth gun-violence problem cannot be measured solely by counting children who are shot.
In this case, the victim was a baby.
The alleged shooter was 10.
Both were children.
The case also illustrates another critical component of the problem: children’s access to firearms.
More Children Were Shot During the Summer
The shootings did not stop with the June cases.
On July 4, two teenage boys — 15 and 17 years old — were shot near Newstead and Farlin avenues in north St. Louis.
Both survived and were reported in stable condition.
On July 15, another teenage male arrived at a south St. Louis fire station seeking help after suffering a gunshot wound to his leg.
Later that same day, a 12-year-old child was shot in the lower leg in the Carondelet neighborhood.
Police recovered two firearms and investigated whether that shooting may have been accidental.
The problem extended outside St. Louis City.
In July, two teenagers were struck by police gunfire following a large gathering involving an estimated 150 to 200 teenagers in north St. Louis County.
A third juvenile was injured by broken glass but was not shot.
Then came this Labor Day weekend.
A 16-year-old was wounded.
A 17-year-old was killed.
A 14-year-old girl was wounded.
The continuing incidents demonstrate why an older year-to-date juvenile shooting statistic cannot be treated as the current number.
Some Teenagers Are Allegedly Shooting Back
The other side of the problem is equally serious.
Children and teenagers are appearing in investigations as alleged participants in shootings.
A St. Louis County case involving the January death of 28-year-old rideshare driver Shannon O’Brien illustrates the complexity.
According to St. Louis County Police, investigators determined that rival groups had allegedly agreed to meet and settle an ongoing conflict with a shootout.
O’Brien was a Lyft driver who had transported passengers to the location.
Gunfire erupted.
She was struck in the back and killed.
Two 17-year-olds — Cortez Alexander and Lamarkus Van — were later certified to stand trial as adults and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses.
County police said other juveniles were allegedly involved as well.
An 18-year-old was also charged in connection with the case.
All criminal charges are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Nevertheless, the allegations reveal the other dimension of youth gun violence.
Some young people are not simply being caught in gunfire.
Authorities allege that some are arranging, participating in, and carrying out shootings.
East St. Louis Case Shows the Extreme
An extraordinary example occurred in East St. Louis this summer.
Authorities charged a 16-year-old boy as an adult in connection with a series of shootings that killed five people and wounded two others.
A 15-year-old girl was also charged through the juvenile court system.
The five people killed ranged in age from 21 to 74.
Prosecutors alleged the shootings occurred at several locations over multiple days in July.
The 16-year-old faces five counts of first-degree murder along with attempted murder and other charges.
Again, those charges remain allegations unless proven in court.
But the accused’s ages are impossible to ignore.
A 15-year-old.
A 16-year-old.
Five people dead.
Those cases demonstrate that the regional discussion about juvenile gun violence must include more than the number of children being shot.
It must also examine why some children are obtaining firearms and allegedly using them against other people.
Where Are Children Getting the Guns?
That may be one of the most important questions St. Louis needs to answer.
Where are the firearms coming from?
How does a 10-year-old obtain access to a loaded handgun?
Why are teenagers carrying firearms into disputes?
How many weapons are stolen?
How many are obtained from adults?
How many are left unsecured in homes?
How many are transferred illegally?
And how many parents or guardians know — or should know — that their children have access to firearms?
Police cannot solve those problems alone.
By the time officers respond to a shooting, prevention has already failed.
Reducing youth gun violence requires law enforcement, prosecutors, families, schools, community organizations and government agencies to address how children obtain weapons and why some young people believe carrying a firearm is necessary or acceptable.
Street Takeover Adds to Weekend Public-Safety Problems
The shootings were not the only major public-safety challenge facing St. Louis over the holiday weekend.
Early Sunday, police received reports of reckless driving around Gravois Avenue and Chippewa Street.
The situation escalated into a large street takeover around Gravois Avenue and Morgan Ford Road.
Hundreds reportedly gathered as vehicles performed dangerous maneuvers on public streets.
A vehicle caught fire.
Police said they needed additional officers because previous street takeovers have resulted in participants surrounding and blocking police vehicles.
At approximately the same time, officers received another emergency call near South Grand Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue involving reports that medical personnel were being held at gunpoint.
A 33-year-old male suspect had left before officers arrived but later returned and was taken into custody.
Two officers responding to assist were involved in a crash at Chouteau and Jefferson Avenues.
One officer required surgery and was reported to be in stable condition. The second officer suffered minor injuries and was released.
The occupants of the other vehicle suffered injuries described as non-life-threatening.
The simultaneous emergencies illustrate one of the practical challenges facing St. Louis police.
Officers cannot respond everywhere at once.
Crime Can Decline and Still Be Unacceptable
St. Louis officials have legitimate statistics demonstrating progress against violent crime.
Those improvements should not be dismissed simply because serious crimes continue to occur.
Likewise, declining statistics should not become a reason to minimize continuing violence.
The two realities can coexist.
Crime can decline significantly from historically high levels while remaining a serious public-safety problem.
Juvenile shootings can decline substantially from their 2022 level while children continue to be shot.
Homicides can fall while families continue burying homicide victims.
Progress should be recognized.
It should not become an excuse for complacency.
St. Louis Needs More Than One Solution
The continuing violence also comes amid disagreements involving St. Louis City, the state of Missouri, and control and financing of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Missouri returned control of SLMPD to a state-appointed police board in 2025.
The city subsequently challenged the state takeover law, including its financial implications.
Meanwhile, federal authorities have expanded their involvement in combating violent crime in St. Louis.
An ATF-led Department of Justice initiative announced in August brought together federal, state, and local resources targeting violent offenders, criminal networks, prohibited firearm possession, and gun trafficking.
Those resources should be used effectively.
So should prevention programs.
This should not become an ideological choice between enforcement and intervention.
St. Louis needs both.
Police need resources to identify and arrest violent offenders.
Federal agencies can investigate firearm trafficking and criminal networks operating across jurisdictions.
Prosecutors must evaluate cases and pursue appropriate, evidence-based charges.
Schools and community organizations can identify young people moving toward violence before someone is shot.
Parents and guardians must know where their children are and whether they have access to firearms.
And gun owners have a responsibility to prevent children from gaining unauthorized access to their weapons.
Children Should Not Be on Either Side of the Gun
The developing Labor Day weekend tally now stands at at least 10 people shot and five killed across the St. Louis region, based on confirmed cases tracked by STL.News through early Monday morning.
Three of the victims were young people.
One of them died.
But the larger 2026 story extends far beyond one holiday weekend.
A 7-month-old baby was killed.
A 10-year-old was accused of pulling the trigger.
A 12-year-old was shot.
Teenagers have been wounded.
Teenagers have been killed.
And other teenagers have been accused of participating in shootings that killed innocent people.
That is not simply a police statistic.
It is a community problem.
St. Louis can acknowledge that crime has declined while simultaneously acknowledging that the region still faces a serious violence problem.
The objective should not be winning an argument over whether St. Louis is safer than it was several years ago.
The objective should be making it safer tomorrow than it is today.
When children are appearing on both sides of the gun, the problem is larger than any police department, mayor, governor, or federal agency can solve alone.
You can also view these news articles at USPress.News.
It will require all of them.
More St. Louis local news articles that you might find interesting at STL.News:
- St. Louis Crime Numbers Clash With Weekend Reality – September 7, 2026
- Police Response Delayed in Bevo Mill Street Takeover – September 7, 2026
- ICE Operation Rotten Apple Nets 2,197 Arrests – September 6, 2026 – Why won’t this work in St. Louis
- Operation Northern Shield Nets 619 Arrests – September 6, 2026 – Why won’t this work in St. Louis
- 14-Year-Old Shot in Midtown, Suspects Detained – September 6, 2026 – Will this go ignored by the current city administration?
Editor’s note: STL.News is tracking Labor Day weekend shootings across the broader St. Louis metropolitan region. As of early Monday, September 7, 2026, the confirmed minimum used in this report is 10 people shot and five killed. The tally combines incidents from multiple jurisdictions and is not an official St. Louis City crime statistic. It may change if law enforcement agencies confirm additional victims. References to suspects and alleged shooters describe accusations by authorities. Defendants and juvenile respondents are presumed innocent unless and until allegations are established through the applicable judicial process.
