Critical Incident Briefing: Officer-Involved Shooting: Berkeley, MO

On Tuesday, February 20, 2024, detectives from our Department’s Bureau of Drug Enforcement were involved in an officer-involved shooting that left one suspect suffering from a non-life-threatening injury.
At 3:42 pm, St. Louis County police officers from the north county precinct responded to a 911 call for an armed carjacking in the 1500 block of Sierra Vista Plaza. The victim reported that her 2022 Dodge Charger was stolen at gunpoint.
Two suspects approached the victim in the parking lot, showed a gun and demanded the keys to her vehicle and her cellphone. The victim complied and the suspects left the parking lot in the victim's vehicle. The incident was recorded by nearby security cameras.
A description of the stolen car and suspects was broadcast over police radios to locate it.
A short time later, St. Louis County Police detectives from the bureau of drug enforcement observed the stolen dodge charger parked in an apartment complex parking lot in the 6600 block of Larry Lane. Detectives surveilled the stolen car until the suspects returned.
Upon their return, at approximately 5:25 p.m., the suspects got into the stolen vehicle and started to leave the parking lot. That’s when detectives successfully deployed a tire deflation device.
The driver continued to flee but was ultimately rendered inoperable and the suspects ran from the scene. As detectives chased them on foot, one suspect, now identified as Larry Lucas, pointed a .40-caliber pistol at the detectives.
Detectives fired their department-issued weapons, striking Mr. Lucas once in the leg. Officers rendered aid to Mr. Lucas, and he was taken by ambulance to an area hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The defendant was interviewed and confessed to carjacking the victim and running from the police.