Good Samaritan saves South St. Louis woman after being shot by her neighbor

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - We’re learning more following an hours-long, police stand-off that started late Wednesday morning. Thursday, remnants of that crime remain in the quiet neighborhood off South Grand on Phillips Place.

Around 11 a.m. neighbors said they heard several rounds of gunshots and then heard a woman screaming. Police confirmed the woman’s downstairs neighbor shot her in the leg. He then barricaded himself in his unit forcing the SWAT team and negotiators to come out.

Thursday, there’s blood still splattered on the sidewalk and windows busted along the building from police trying to get the suspect out. Neighbors said the whole thing was terrifying.

“I heard her screaming, and I heard ‘Help! Help!’ She kept screaming ‘help’, so I jumped off the couch, called 911. I was looking out the window. I could see her lying here in the street. Her lower right leg was just covered in blood and it was twisted. You could tell she was hurt,” one neighbor said.

This neighbor wishes to remain anonymous. She said it took police 15-20 minutes to respond after multiple neighbors called 911. After the woman was shot, the suspect barricaded himself inside the apartment complex. Another neighbor said the suspect had just moved in about a year ago and had been causing problems with his upstairs neighbor, who we now know is the victim.

“This stuff’s been going on. The police were here a short time back, maybe a week, two weeks back, where he was flashing a gun at her as she was coming down the steps. The way my neighbor was saying, when she was leaving, he’s sticking a gun out the window at her,” Roy Ward said.

Ward and another neighbor said if it wasn’t for a Good Samaritan down the street, with a weapon, they don’t know if the woman victim would’ve been okay.

“I will certainly never forget seeing. It’s like a real-life hero in action. Very responsible gun owner, did everything right. I saw him creeping down the street. He was just wanting to keep everyone safe,” the neighbor explained.

YoVan Young, who works for First Choice Heating and Cooling, was working a job about a block from where this shooting happened. He said he had his gun on him and his first reaction when he heard the victim screaming for help, was to head that way.

“We hear like six, seven shots, and we come peek around to see what’s going on. Before we get out of the gateway, we could hear the screams for help. I didn’t initially see her at first, so I’m hearing that scream,” Young explained.

Young said he ran over to the victim and helped her get behind a car for safety because the suspect was still shooting. Young said he fired some warning shots at the suspect, took his belt off, and used it as a tourniquet on the victim’s leg to slow her bleeding down.

For now, police still haven’t released the suspect’s name or his charges, but we do know he’s in custody.

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