ST. LOUIS – Parents with kids at the Downtown Children’s Center got an unnerving call last Thursday.
A shooting happened just feet away from where their children learn and play outside.
St. Louis Metropolitan Police arrested 25-year-old Daron Nelson for allegedly shooting a 62-year-old man in a road rage shooting on Washington Avenue.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge (Ward 14) said the Board of Alderman is “trying to do everything possible” to curb the violence in downtown.
According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the non-profit St. Louis Police Foundation has donated $640,000 to the Metro police department to improve downtown patrols.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Aldridge said Monday. “But how do we figure out a holistic, long-term approach to keep all our streets safe, not just downtown (but) northside and southside (too.)”
The donation will be used to pay officers $70 an hour to work secondary shifts. That’s about $20 more than their current overtime rate.
Aldridge said the Board of Alderman is looking at other solutions instead of increased patrolling.
“If we could put safety traffic measures in place, hopefully people won’t be able to go as fast,” he said.
According to Aldridge, the board is also looking at ways to make it harder for people to open-carry in the city and at potentially making certain streets, like Washington Avenue, smaller.
