ST. LOUIS, Mo. - A suspect is dead and a police officer was injured Tuesday morning in St. Louis City.
According to Interim Police Chief Larry O'Toole, two officers were called to the home for reports of a stabbing. They arrived to find a man wounded with lacerations to his face, arms, and torso. The victim said the suspect cut him and was in the apartment next door.
The officers entered the deceased, Kenny Kiwi Herring's apartment to confront her. O'Toole said the Herring did not comply with officers and attacked them with a large kitchen knife, cutting one officer on the arm. Both officers then shot Herring, killing her.
Police said there have been several calls to that address for domestic abuse in the past. Two small children were also inside of the home at the time of the shooting. They were unharmed.
The injured officer, who has seven years-of-service, was taken to the hospital for treatment. He is expected to survive. The second officer has been with the department for nine years.
Both have been placed on administrative leave, per department policy.
Meanwhile, investigators learned a 28-year-old woman, who was in the apartment with the deceased suspect, was involved in the initial attack on their neighbor. The woman was taken into custody at the scene.
The neighbor's condition is unknown at this time.
Several dozen people attended a candlelight vigil on Ridge Ave. at Union Blvd. north of Forest Park Tuesday evening for Herring.
While most were reluctant to speak with media members who showed up, it eventually came out that those on hand were upset with a couple of aspects contained in an official police report of the fatal shooting.
First off, they said, St. Louis police got the gender of the person killed wrong.
In the police report that person was labelled a 30-year-old male, when in fact those at the vigil say Kenny “Kiwi” Herring preferred to be identified as a “trans woman/femme”.
Supporters also questioned details in the police report saying there was no evidence that it was Herring who attacked two people, including a responding officer, with a knife.
They also claimed that police did not follow proper protocols for responding to a domestic incident, and instead made a rush to judgement.
Police responded to the gender issue by saying that according to physical evidence and a driver’s license, the person fatally shot was a male.
They added that even family members failed to correct them upon being notified of Herring’s death.
As if to underscore the complicated situation, however, even supporters who spoke out during the candlelight vigil seemed to get confused, often referring to Herring as “he” with those in the crowd repeatedly calling out “she” in response.
