By Rachel Lippmann, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis police are calling the city's first homicide of the year an "isolated incident."
42-year-old Terry Darris of Florissant was shot and killed outside his motorcycle club when he went to investigate why his car alarm was going off. Police say he confronted three men who were trying to rob his car. The three shot him in the back with a semi-automatic handgun, then fled in a dark, 2-door car.
"What's most unfortunate about this whole thing is what Mr. Darris and his organization stands for, and that is ending violence in our community," said St. Louis Police captain Michael Sack, the head of the department's crimes against persons division. "And they were there at that meeting planning an event for later this month."
Val Strang, the owner of Rock Workout in a building less than a block from the crime scene near Midtown, agrees with the police that the shooting was a fluke.
"When any time we start having a lot more growth in the area, when we have a lot more cars in the area, you're always going to, the crime rate we just need to work on patrolling better, having a little bit more in the way of security constantly on the streets," she said.
Police are asking anyone with information about Darris's shooting to call CrimeStoppers. Members of Darris's motorcycle club are raising funds for a reward.
Police are also seeking a suspect in a double homicide in the parking lot of the Schnucks at Natural Bridge and Union. They believe the shooter knew the two victims. It's very similar to an unsolved homicide at that same location last October, but Sack says the two are not connected beyond location.