By Gail Appleson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. LOUIS — An off-duty St. Louis police officer shot a Granite City resident early Sunday morning just outside a sports bar in Granite City. Soon after, Pontoon Beach police shot an off-duty St. Louis policeman at the same location, according to the Illinois State Police.
A lawyer for the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association said the officer who was wounded was not the same officer who shot the resident.
The incident began around 1 a.m. Sunday, when an off-duty police officer was leaving a wedding celebration at Mack and Mick’s Place Bar, according to Albert Watkins, a lawyer representing the officer. Several St. Louis police officers and their families and friends were attending the gathering, said Watkins, whose firm is among those that represent the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association.
Watkins said his client was walking across the parking lot when two assailants attacked him. The officer was struck on the forehead with a metal bar, knocking him down.
The attackers then jumped on top of the officer and continued to beat him, the lawyer said. The officer reached for his gun in his rear waistband. The weapon discharged, Watkins said, striking a 25-year-old Granite City man.
“My client did nothing that any other human being who wanted to live would not have otherwise done,” Watkins said.
The officer has been on the police force for five months, and did not know his assailants or the reason for the attack, Watkins said.
Shortly after the attack, Pontoon Beach police officers arrived at the bar and shot a different off-duty St. Louis police officer, Watkins said. The wounded officer, 23, has been on the force for three months. He was shot once in the head and once in the shoulder, according to a St. Louis police spokeswoman.
Both shooting victims are in critical condition, according to the Illinois State Police, which is investigating the case. The victims’ names have not been released.
Authorities in St. Louis and Illinois offered few details about the incident. Lt. James Morrisey of the Illinois State Police said an off-duty St. Louis police officer shot a Granite City resident, and a Pontoon Beach officer shot an off-duty St. Louis policman. Morrisey declined to discuss the matter further, saying a news release would be issued today.
The Pontoon Beach Police Department referred all calls to the Illinois State Police. Sgt. Gary Wiegert, president of the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association, declined to comment as well. Meanwhile, a St. Louis police spokeswoman confirmed the victims condition was critical; the department’s Internal Affairs division is investigating; and “the involved” officers have been placed on administrative leave.
Watkins said his client and at least two other off-duty St. Louis police officers were taken to the Illinois State Police office in Collinsville for questioning. He declined to release the name of his client, who Watkins said is being held at the St. Clair County jail as of Sunday evening.
A woman who answered the phone at Mack and Mick’s Place Bar said no one wanted to comment.
Copyright 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch