St. Louis Police Officer Shot In The Head Saturday Dies From His Injuries

An officer who was in grave condition after a man shot him in the head Saturday evening has died, police said.

Officer Tamarris L. Bohannon, an officer with more than three years of service with the department, died Sunday night, St. Louis police said.

Police said Bohannon was shot in the head and another officer was shot in the leg Saturday evening when responding to a call near Tower Grove Park in south St. Louis.

Police said the two officers responded to a shooting call at around 5:45 Saturday evening on the 3700 block of Hartford Street. Police said while Bohannon was looking for a shooting victim, a man shot Bohannon in the head. When other officers went to help the officer who was shot, the man shot a second officer in the leg, according to police.

Police said Bohannon was in "grave condition" after undergoing a Saturday night surgery, but they said he died Sunday night. Bohannon was a 29-year-old who had been a member of the department for more than three years.

He is survived by his wife and three children, two sons and a daughter. All of them are younger than 10.

Bohannon is the second officer to have died from his 2017 academy class.Officer Katlyn Alix, 24, was killed in 2019 while playing a Russian-roulette style game with another officer.

The BackStoppers said it is helping Bohannon's family.

“This is heartbreaking,” Chief Ron Battelle, executive director of The BackStoppers, said in a statement Sunday night. “These two officers were responding to a call to assist someone in need and one tragically loses his life and the other is injured. We will forever be grateful for their heroic actions.”

Assistance from the organization is immediate and ongoing, the statement said. Upon the death of a police officer, firefighter, publicly-funded paramedic or EMT, his or her family receives a check for $10,000 from The BackStoppers with assurance of further help.

Police said the man suspected of shooting the officers forced a couple from their home after the shooting that led to the initial call and barricaded himself inside. After a standoff that lasted more than 12 hours, the suspect was taken into custody.

5 On Your Side’s Casey Nolen spoke to the couple who was forced out of their home at gunpoint by the suspect. Steve and Mimi said it must have been their "guardian angels" who got them out of the house.

“He could have very easily just shot the both of us and he didn’t, and I just thank God for protection,” Steve said.

The couple said the gunman told them to get off their phones and then they both were able to leave their house.

“Steve turned and went out the door and followed me out and we think our guardian angels put their hands on our shoulders, turned us and walked us out. And that gunman was standing there with that gun and shot the two police officers after that,” Mimi said.

Sources said the 43-year-old suspect was wanted out of Florida for kidnapping and attempted sexual battery. He also had a criminal history in the St. Louis area in the 1990s, the sources said.

In a statement, Mayor Lyda Krewson called Bohannon's death a "terrible, senseless tragedy."

"I am heartbroken over the line of duty death of Officer Tamarris L. Bohannon of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. I've had the privilege of spending some time with his family under these extraordinarily challenging circumstances," Krewson said. "They're wonderful people and immensely proud of the way he selflessly served and protected our community with distinction and honor for more than three years.

"This is a horrific reminder of the dangers our brave men and women willingly face everyday to keep us safe. I ask that everyone please continue to keep Officer Bohannon, his loved ones, friends and colleagues, and the entire St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department in your thoughts and prayers."

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Officer Bohannon's death.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said her condolences and prayers were with the family and loved ones of Officer Bohannon.