Slain officer was 8th shot in city this year
ST. LOUIS » A St. Louis police officer killed over the weekend was among eight officers who have been shot during this extraordinarily violent year in the city.
Officer Tamarris L. Bohannon, 29, died Sunday, a day after he was shot in the head. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
A 43-year-old white man was in custody but not charged. Bohannon was Black, as was a second officer who was shot in the leg and was expected to survive. That officer’s name has not been released.
“This is a horrific reminder of the dangers our brave men and women willingly face every day to keep us safe,” Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a statement, calling Bohannon’s death “a terrible, senseless tragedy.”
This year has been especially dangerous in St. Louis, the city that has for many years ranked among the nation’s most deadly. The rate of killings in 2020 is on a near-record pace, and nonfatal shootings have spiked, too. The worst of the crime surge has happened since June. Things are so dire that the federal government in early August sent 50 agents to battle crime.
Six other officers have been shot in addition to Bohannon and his colleague, including four struck during a violent June 1 protest that followed George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Two of those officers were shot in the leg, one in the foot and one in the arm.
An officer was shot by a person with a sawed-off shotgun on July 26. Another was shot by a teenager on Aug. 2.
Among those officers, only Bohannon died.
Thirty-three officers have been shot to death in the U.S. so far this year, a 6% decrease from the Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 period last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Another 32 officers died in traffic accidents, up 10% from last year. Twentyone officers have died this year during other incidents and job-related illnesses, down 40% from last year.
A photo of a note from Bohannon’s family was posted on the department’s Twitter page after the announcement of his death.
“He is a hero to many, but most importantly to his loving wife and three incredible children,” read the note that referred to him as “Bo” and asked for “prayers and support in the days ahead.”
St. Louis Police Officers Association Business Manager Jeff Roorda said Monday that Bohannon was a “difference-maker” to those who knew him.
“He sought to make a difference for all people in the community he served because they mattered. The unnecessary sacrifice of this dedicated public servant should be mourned by all because his life mattered,” Roorda said in a statement.