Local News

Tenants Allege Lax Security at Site of Sunday’s Mass Teen Shooting | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2023

[ad_1]

click to enlarge RYAN KRULL Building at 1409 Washington Avenue

More details are emerging about the commercial building in downtown St. Louis that was the site of this weekend’s mass shooting in which 11 young people were injured and one killed.

Interviews with a former building manager, tenant and other downtown stakeholders paint a picture of a building that had a lax attitude toward security and an unlicensed bar operating sporadically on the first floor.

TCM Realty has owned 1409 Washington Avenue since 2008. A sign in its lobby advertises office space in it for as low as $295 a month.

At a press conference yesterday, Police Chief Robert Tracy said it was “a surprise” that there would be a party at the location, describing it as “office space with cubicles … not set up for socializing.”

However, those more familiar with the building’s recent history say that it has had issues for years.

A woman whose business rented space in the building prior to the pandemic says that security was an ongoing concern, one that she felt like building management didn’t take seriously enough. That’s ultimately why she left.

“If there could be a commercial version of a slumlord, TCM is that,” she said. “There was a man who didn’t have a space in the building who frequently used the women’s restroom on our floor and trashed it, and I brought that to the property manager’s attention, and it went unaddressed.”

The former tenant shared with the RFT an email from building management urging people renting space in the building not to leave the front door unlocked.

“If anyone is doing this they should take a mental note that if it happens again, we will be reviewing the camera and determining next steps to prevent this from happening again,” the 2019 email says.

The former tenant tells the RFT that despite the mention of security cameras, “they didn’t have any.”

A current tenant who runs a business out of the building, who didn’t want her name or company associated with coverage of the shooting, tells the RFT the landlords’ management of the building is “just OK.””

“They never answer the phone or call you back. But they want their rent on time,” she says. “And I just don’t like how the front door is always open.”

She says they get a key card to access the building, but she barely ever has to use it because the door is always open.
At Sunday’s press conference, Tracy said that police were trying to determine who controlled access to the building.

The former tenant who spoke to the RFT says that building management was loose about who came in and out. She notes that, at least when she was renting space, the elevator wasn’t controlled-access, meaning that once someone was inside the building they could get to any floor.

Even after the shooting, on Monday afternoon an RFT reporter walked right into the building and took the elevator up to the fifth floor, which had been cleaned up considerably in the past day though some units were in disarray—including one space that had nothing but hookah gear and empty boxes strewn haphazardly about.

Former building manager Brad Waldrop tells the RFT that when he heard news of the mass shooting he “was not surprised at all.”

“I think it was inevitable,” Waldrop says. “It’s a surprise it didn’t happen sooner.”

Waldrop says that until about 2012 he worked for TCM Realty, which is owned by Terrence McDonald, a businessman whom Waldrop describes as “a good guy that put money into his property,” but eventually “gave up on downtown.”

“At some point he got so sick of city government not helping us down here that he just told me, ‘I don’t care who you bring me, I’ll lease it to anybody,'” Waldrop says.

Waldrop says that at that point, he quit.

Reached by phone, McDonald says that he doesn’t want to comment at this time, as he doesn’t have all the facts about the shooting. However, when told what Waldrop had said, McDonald emphasized, “That is inaccurate. There’s nothing true about that statement. I’m perfectly happy with the city and the way they operate.”

Les Sterman of Citizens for a Greater Downtown St. Louis says that his organization has previously called the police about what he called an “illegal club” operating on the building’s first floor without a liquor license.

The RFT reviewed multiple Instagram posts advertising karaoke events and 420-friendly hookah happy hour events happening at 1409 Washington.

This morning, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department revised the number of young people injured in Sunday’s shooting from 10 to 11.

In addition to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Makao Moore, ten other teens sustained injuries from gunfire. One 17-year-old female sustained serious injuries to spinal cord after being trampled by others fleeing the shooting.

Among the 10 injured are two 15-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, three 17-year-olds, an 18-year-old and two 19-year-olds.

[ad_2]

Source link

Local News

Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

[ad_2]

Source link

Local News

Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

12 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Local News

St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

12 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

[ad_2]

Source link