Missouri gunman kills four in home

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — A young sister and brother, their grandmother and another woman were fatally shot inside a St. Louis-area home, police said Saturday.

Authorities said the suspect exchanged gunfire with police early Saturday. He fled and was taken into custody seven hours later at a convenience store where he had sought shelter, police said.

Three people were found dead inside the home in St. Charles, a city of about 70,000 people on the Missouri River northwest of St. Louis. The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis identified them as Zoe Kasten, 8; her brother, Jonathan Kasten, 10, and their grandmother, Jane Moeckel, 61.

The fourth victim, a a 39-year-old woman, died at an area hospital, St. Charles police Lt. Tom Wilkison said. Authorities didn’t name the woman, but they said she was the children’s mother and the suspect’s girlfriend.

Police said they stopped the suspect, identified as 46-year-old Richard Darren Emery, as he tried to drive away from the home just after midnight, and a short gunbattle followed. The suspect then fled on foot, tried unsuccessfully to steal a woman’s car, stabbed her and fled again on foot, police said. The woman’s injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.

The suspect was taken into custody at a convenience store a few miles away about 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Emery was injured, and Wilkison said he remained in an area hospital Saturday.