U. City group, FBI each put up $10,000 to catch killer of U. City police officer.
Related articles:
Man who killed St. Louis officer at large
Officer dies after being shot in St. Louis suburb
By Patrick M. O’Connell
St Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — Police are using a $20,000 reward to try to find the killer of Sgt. Michael King, but both their suspect and an explanation for the Halloween night ambush remained elusive Monday.
University City police said they were still looking for Todd Shepard, 41, who is not charged in the case but is identified on bulletins as “armed and dangerous.”
King, 50, in uniform, was parked at the curb on Leland Avenue just off Delmar Boulevard in the bustling Delmar Loop at about 10:20 p.m. Friday when someone approached his marked squad car and shot him in the head. The gunman fled in a car.
The funeral for King will be at 10 a.m. today at the First Presbyterian Church, 7200 Delmar Boulevard.
The search for Shepard has stretched to Nebraska, where authorities have been looking for him since Saturday because he has family there. But University City police Capt. Mike Ransom said Monday that investigators believe Shepard is more likely still in the St. Louis area.
Officials have not said how they zeroed in on Shepard, and insist they do not know a motive. “We do not have the why,” Ransom said.
Police said Shepard is the only suspect sought. He most recently lived in Berkeley, Ransom said, and had been at a residence there in the hours before the shooting.
Public records show an address for Shepard on Hancock Avenue. Several neighbors told a reporter Monday they were not familiar with Shepard. Many houses on the block are either vacant or occupied by transients, neighbors said. One man said he had seen Shepard’s photo on TV but had never seen him before.
Police said Shepard was driving a gray 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass four-door with the Missouri license plate 2AB28J at the time of the shooting.
Investigators said Shepard has two other running vehicles registered to him: a white 1989 Chevrolet Corsica, Missouri license 840YKC and a white or blue 1996 Cadillac Deville, Missouri license PA1D4J.
The Parkview Gardens Association, a group of landlords, business owners and residents in the east end of University City, put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of King’s killer. The FBI posted $10,000 more.
King, a 25-year veteran of the department, had been assigned to monitor foot and street traffic on Halloween night.
Police Chief Charles Adams said Monday the best way for investigators to honor the fallen officer is to catch the killer. “There’s no place we’re not looking for him,” Adams said.
King was the 10th officer killed in the line of duty in the past decade among various departments in St. Louis County, and the third this year. St. Louis city police lost six officers in the same period.
King became the fourth University City officer killed on duty, joining Officer Wilbert J. Downey in 1969, Detective James E. Boevingloh in 1970 and Officer Francis J. Graham in 1976.
Anyone with information about the murder is asked to call police at 314-725-2211, or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-8477.
Copyright 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch