8-Year-Old St. Louis Girl Shot Dead Near High School Football Event
An 8-year-old girl was killed and three others were injured in a shooting near a St. Louis high school Friday night, CNN reported.
Soldan High School was hosting a football jamboree, a series of preseason scrimmages, when reports of fights broke out and the girl, Jurnee Thompson, a woman and two teens were shot, according to KMOV.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Emergency crews were sent to the Missouri high school around 8 p.m. Friday following reports of a fight involving about 30 people, witnesses told KMOV.
The police were already in the area, trying to control crowds, when the shots began about a block north of the school, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden told reporters.
“The little girl wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Hayden said. “She was with family when this occurred. Shots rang out. Not sure what particular fight that was going on when shots rang out.”
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Attending the event was a special treat for Thompson for practicing good behavior, her father told KMOV.
Mark Vasquez, a former firefighter, told KMOV that he tried to save Thompson after hearing the gunshots nearby.
He tried to see if she was responsive, he said, finding an injury to her abdomen. “You could see the life leaving her,” he added.
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The two teenage boys shot were Thompson’s cousins, who went to the jamboree with her, KMOV reported. Both teens are in stable condition, police confirmed to the outlet.
Police are still investigating who fired the gunshots that evening.
Thompson’s death marks the 12th child or teenager shot and killed in St. Louis since April, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found.
