A St. Louis man was arrested on Tuesday after a chilling video emerged that appears to show him loading a handgun and nonchalantly shooting a homeless man execution-style in broad daylight. Deshawn Thomas, 23, was arrested in connection with the murder he committed on Monday. However, he is yet to be charged, according to police.
The incident took place in front of The Globe Building. A graphic video shared on social media shows Thomas standing behind the victim, who is seated on the sidewalk with his hands over his ears. The gunman then loads his gun and starts shooting at him multiple times as he collapses on the ground.
Executed in Broad Daylight
A video shared online by a bystander appears to show Thomas standing behind the homeless man. He can be seen struggling to load his handgun while the man is sitting on the curb a few feet away.
About 20 seconds later, Thomas appears to open fire on the unnamed victim, who raises his arms briefly but otherwise doesn't make an effort to run away and appeared almost resigned to his fate, according to the footage.
"Oh my god. He just f–king killed him," the witness can be heard saying.
The shooting took place in the middle of downtown St. Louis at around 10 am on Monday, according to police.
"Any homicide is unnerving," Maj. Ryan Cousins told the St. Louis Dispatch at the scene, "but for this one to happen here, at this time, very much so."
Witnesses claimed to have seen Thomas and the homeless man arguing seconds earlier outside the Shell petrol station farther up the street.
Thomas fled the area and was subsequently arrested after entering a public library. Thomas is now accused of first-degree murder. It is still not known if Thomas, who has tattoos on his neck and forehead, has a criminal history or whether he was on bond or probation when the incident took place yesterday.
Shocking Scene Ignites Fear
Frightened St. Louis citizens claim the incident is evidence that local authorities, especially the Soros-backed progressive Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, are powerless to stop the rising violence. "This is broad daylight! Have we seen enough? We can't sugarcoat this any longer. It's time for STL do some soul-searching.
"Our elected leaders do NOT have a handle on this," said one.
It is the most recent of several violent incidents that have occurred in St. Louis, which has the fourth-highest murder rate in the nation.
In 2021, there were 200 murders, up from 194 in 2019, but down from 263 in 2020. In 2023, there have been 25 murders in the city thus far. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is receiving an increasing number of calls for her resignation due to the rising number of violent crimes committed by repeat offenders in the city.
A teenage volleyball player was struck by the car of 21-year-old convicted felon Daniel Riley earlier this month, trapping her to the ground and taking both of her legs from her.
According to Missouri AG Andrew Bailey, he ought to have been in jail rather than driving a vehicle. "Instead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them. The driver of the speeding vehicle, Daniel Riley, should never have been in that car.
"He is a dangerous gunman who should have been in jail."
