ST. LOUIS – A judge has acquitted a former St. Louis officer previously charged in connection with the shooting of a carjacking suspect several years ago.
Matthew D. Eernisse, 30, a former officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, was found not guilty of second-degree assault and armed criminal action charges.
Eernisse was initially charged in 2019 for a shooting that happened one year earlier in the 5500 block of Chamberlain Avenue. At the time, he was accused of shooting an unarmed carjacking suspect after a chase in the city’s West End neighborhood.
According to court documents released Friday, Eernisse followed up on a dispatch call warning about an “armed and dangerous carjacker” in a red Mustang.
At some point after the chase ended, Eernisse and the suspect came within close distance. Eernisse testified that he attempted to swat the suspect’s hand away from his waistband. Fearing that the suspect was reaching for a weapon and attempt to kill him, Eernisse claimed he acted in self-defense and fired shots at the suspect.
The state ultimately determined that Eernisse’s actions were justified and that there was no evidence of him continuing to shoot when it was reckless to do so, per court documents.
Court documents did not disclose whether the alleged carjacking suspect faced criminal charges.
