Man shot after shooting juvenile carjacking suspect in Bellefontaine Neighbors

BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS, Mo. (KMOV) - Two people are recovering after a double shooting during a carjacking attempt in Bellefontaine Neighbors Friday morning.

It happened around 9 a.m. in the 9900 block of Colonnade Meadows, just a few blocks away from Gibson Elementary School.

Life-long Bellefontaine Neighbors resident Karen Kulla didn’t know what to think when shots rang out in her neighborhood.

“It was scary,” Kulla explained. “Multiple in a row and they went, stopped, continued again. It was a couple, two different times.”

Investigators were marking evidence just before 9:30 a.m. Police told First Alert 4 that a couple pulled up to their home after dropping their child off at school. The woman left her car door open while running inside. According to police, that’s when a juvenile jumped out of a car that followed them and hopped into the victim’s driver seat.

The man, still in the backseat, shot the suspect, who then ran back to their car. Police said they believe multiple others inside the suspect’s car then fired shots at the victim’s car.

“I knew it was close, but I didn’t realize it was as close as it was,” Kulla said.

“Unfortunately, this is an epidemic plaguing the region right now, carjackings and armed confrontations,” Major Tim Sanders said.

Sanders and the department’s other major are taking on the workload of Chief Jeremy Ihler, who retired earlier this week. His last day with the department was Thursday.

Sanders said despite the strain the department is feeling with vacancies, police have their juvenile suspect. That’s a sigh of relief for Kulla.

“Where we live in this area, I feel okay,” Kulla shared. “Around us the surrounding areas, maybe a little different but right here I feel safe just surprised to hear it so close.”

The male victim was hospitalized after being shot in the elbow.

Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved.