Rifle used in St. Louis shooting was taken from gunman days before attack, police say A man is dead as investigators question whether he accidentally shot himself.
The rifle was taken from suspected gunman John Crawford on the morning of Aug. 3, after Crawford told police he planned to kill the chief of police and the chief’s mother in what authorities now believe was an accidental shooting, investigators said Sunday.
“He was talking about killing the two police officers,” St. Louis County Police Superintendent Ron Hickman told reporters. “He had a plan to get into the chief’s house and he would use his.38-caliber revolver to kill the chief and his mother, which was exactly what happened, and then he was going to run away.”
Crawford first told police he wanted to kill the chief and the chief’s mother, but then changed course, Hickman said, adding that Crawford was “very calm” and “did not have any suicidal thoughts.”
He said Crawford was planning on killing the two women because the chief was a racist and a “loud mouth” and the chief’s mother was a “bigoted lesbian.”
Authorities have not determined why Crawford was with the rifle or what he intended to do with it when it fired, Hickman said.
“He was trying to take it to the chief’s house at the time — he told us he couldn’t leave,” Hickman said.
He said Crawford would have fired 12 rounds through the doors of the chief’s home.
John Crawford was fatally shot while barricaded inside a St. Louis address on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2016.
John Crawford was fatally shot while barricaded inside a St. Louis address on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2016, authorities said.
John Crawford was fatally shot while barricaded inside a St. Louis address on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2016, authorities said.
John Crawford is seen with a rifle as authorities believe he accidentally shot himself, authorities said.
John Crawford is seen with a rifle as authorities believe he