WELLSTON, MO (KTVI) - The St. Louis County Police Department says its investigation into the deadly use of force by a Wellston Police officer is continuing. 34-year-old Thomas Allen died Sunday after being shot by the officer Saturday. The case is being investigated by the County’s Crimes Against Persons Unit.
“They don’t do one interview with the policeman and then say that’s the end of it. They’re going to interview everybody that was in the vehicle and any witnesses. They’re going to go back and re-canvass for any possible witnesses,” said Sgt. Brian Schellman, St. Louis County Police spokesman.
Ballistics reports and analysis of the physical evidence have not been completed.
“We want to take time and make sure there’s no stone that goes unturned.”
Here is the entire statement from St. Louis County Police about what happened based on the Wellston officer’s account:
On Saturday, February 28, 2015, an officer with the Wellston Police Department, who has been with the Wellston Police Department since 2007, observed a vehicle fail to signal and make an improper left turn, nearly causing an accident with an oncoming vehicle at the intersection of Page and Morton. The Wellston officer activated his vehicles emergency equipment and conducted a traffic stop near this location. The vehicle was occupied by a male driver, male front passenger and male passenger seated in the rear behind the driver. A five-year-old juvenile female, who was the daughter of the driver, was in the rear seat behind the front seat passenger.
While speaking with the driver of the vehicle, the Wellston Police Officer observed the adult male passenger, later identified as Thomas Allen, 34-years of age, who was located in the rear seat behind the driver, make several movements that the officer felt could be the subject reaching for a weapon. The officer requested the adult rear passenger to exit the vehicle due to the suspicious movements he made. The officer searched the subject for weapons, which revealed nothing illegal. The officer then performed a quick search to the rear seat of the vehicle for possible weapons in the vicinity of the five-year-old child. The Wellston officer found no weapons and allowed the subject to re-enter the vehicle in the rear passenger seat behind the driver.
As the original officer was directing the driver and front seat passenger to exit the vehicle to further the investigation, a second Wellston Officer arrived to assist. While both officers were speaking with these two individuals at the rear of the vehicle, the suspect climbed over the driver’s seat and got behind the steering wheel.
The Wellston Officer who made the original traffic stop attempted to stop the suspect from fleeing by entering the front passenger side door, which was still open. The attempt to stop the suspect from driving away failed and the car rapidly accelerated up Morton with the officer inside the vehicle physically trying to stop the suspect. The five-year-old juvenile female was also trapped in the back of the vehicle.
As the suspect turned the vehicle left on Chatham from Morton, the officer discharged his pistol three times at the driver in fear of his life as well as the life of the juvenile female in the rear seat. The vehicle left the roadway, crossed an empty lot and came to rest against the foundation of a residence on Chatham.
The suspect was conveyed to a local hospital for treatment, however died from his injuries on the morning of March 1, 2015. The Wellston Officer who was inside the vehicle and fired the shots was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and treated and released for minor injuries to his leg.
This investigation is still ongoing and active and being conducted by the St. Louis County Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Unit.
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