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A news conference held Friday by two mayors on curbing violence was interrupted by the sound of four gunshots.
During the event, which was hosted by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Jones was discussing a previous violent crime before four gunshots rang out in the distance.
"Well isn't that wonderful," Jones said as KSDK news cameras caught her reaction. After the gunshots went off, both Jones and Lucas looked over their shoulder before other guests started walking into a building behind the mayors. Also, a police officer who was providing security moved his hand toward his holstered gun.
Once a reporter asked Jones if she felt safe at the event after the gunshots rang out, Jones stated that she's immune to hearing them on a daily basis.
"I didn't flinch," Jones said. "I hear gunshots in my neighborhood every night. My son and I fall asleep to the lullaby of gunshots in the distance every night because I'm the first mayor in over 20 years to be born, raised and still live in north St. Louis."
Over the last few months, there have been numerous crimes involving the use of a gun in the city of St. Louis.
In September 2021, an 11-year-old boy allegedly beat a person in the head with a gun during a carjacking in St. Louis, according to authorities. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said the boy was helping his mother while she stole a car from a 48-year-old man.
In August 2021, a 9-year-old girl and her 27-year-old mother were both found tied up and shot to death inside of their home in St. Louis.
In 2020, St. Louis experienced its highest homicide rates by the use of a weapon in 50 years, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The murders accelerated in July 2020, with 55 murders reported in that month alone. But homicide rates in 2021 have gone down by 30 percent. For example, in July 2021, 15 murders occurred, which is 40 percent fewer than the previous year.
St. Louis police have recorded 107 criminal homicides thus far, compared to 156 at the same point last year. About 92 percent of city homicide victims have been Black, police said.
Newsweek has reached out to Jones and Lucas for further comment.
