A 39-year-old Jefferson County man was grazed by a bullet when confronted another man who reportedly was in the victim’s pickup outside a home in the 20th block of Wallach Drive between Fenton and High Ridge. The victim was not seriously injured, and emergency medical personnel treated him at the scene and released him, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Spokesman Grant Bissell said the victim was taken to an area hospital by private conveyance with non-life-threatening injuries, but he did not have an update on the man’s condition.
The shooting happened at about 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11. After the victim was grazed by the shot, the suspect got into a dark-colored sedan that had at least two other men inside it, and they drove away toward Old Sugar Creek Road, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Bissell said today, Dec. 12, that the Sheriff’s Office had not received reports of any items stolen from vehicles on Wallach Drive, but residents reported that their vehicles either had been rifled through or that someone had tried to enter their vehicles.
Bissell said a neighbor called the victim and told him three men reportedly were getting into or trying to get into vehicles on the street. The victim saw the passenger-side door on his 2017 Dodge Ram open and went outside to investigate.
The victim reportedly found a man inside his pickup and pulled him out. The suspect then allegedly spun around and fired three shots at the victim, whose shoulder was grazed by a bullet, Bissell said.
He said the Sheriff’s Office did not know if the victim had a weapon when he confronted the suspect.
Bissell said deputies arrived at Wallach Drive about five minutes after the reported shooting. “This is a regionwide problem” Bissell said of people stealing from vehicles in neighborhoods, especially those near major roadways. “For whatever reason, these types of criminals have been emboldened in recent years to steal from vehicles or steal vehicles, and when confronted, they do not seem to hesitate to escalate the level of violence. It is concerning for us and the residents of Jefferson County.”
A similar incident happened in October 2019 at a home in the 5200 block of Summer Circle in Imperial. A 41-year-old man was shot at three times when he confronted someone who was going through a car and SUV parked outside his home.
The Imperial man had a gun when he confronted the suspect. The victim did not shoot at the suspect, and he was not hit by the gunfire.
Bissell encourages residents who see someone trying to steal from vehicles to call 911.
“You have a right to defend your property, but you need to know things could turn violent if you do approach these folks,” Bissell said. “It is a choice for each individual to make, and they should consider the consequences of potentially physically confronting someone.”
He said the investigators know individuals or groups trying to steal from vehicles typically move quickly from one home to the next, but they often stay in neighborhoods for lengthy periods of time.
“A call to 911 to say this is happening now, it could be like last night, when a deputy was there in about five minutes or less,” Bissell said. “A deputy may not catch someone outside your home, but they may catch someone at the next home or up the street. We know big neighborhoods are spots they like to hit because there are more potential targets.”
As of Dec. 12, the suspects had not been identified, and the Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information about the incident to call 636-797-5515.