Video Shows Tense Negotiation Before Mo. Police Shoot Armed Suspect in Hostage Standoff

By Kim Bell

Source St. Louis Post-Dispatch

SHREWSBURY, MO—Wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Connor Will burglarized a home and held a man hostage for hours in a back bedroom while a police negotiator tried to calm him down, body cam footage released Wednesday reveals.

The tactical team's negotiator for St. Louis County police had a seemingly good rapport with Will inside the Shrewsbury home in late March, even more than an hour into their conversation.

The officer and Will agreed to smoke a cigarette together — if Will would put his gun and knife down. Police also told Will that he would get a private jail cell.

But the deal deteriorated in a split second at the home on Murdoch Avenue. Another tactical officer fired four shots at Will, who was hit but survived.

Video footage released by the St. Louis County Police Department on Wednesday provides the audio of their conversation — but the camera's vantage point of Will is blocked by the doorframe. It doesn't show what Will did just before being shot.

Court documents and police said Will lunged at the man he was holding hostage, and that is what sparked the officer to shoot Will.

The police department began releasing video summaries, which often include body camera footage, in February 2022. The county Police Board policy is to release such footage within 45 days of a "critical incident" involving officers. The video summary released Wednesday is 19 minutes long.

In his briefing, St. Louis County police Lt. Col. Gerald Lohr describes what led up to the March 29 shooting.

A woman called police from a neighbor's home after Will broke into her home around 2 a.m. that morning and was holding her husband at gunpoint.

Will is the estranged ex-boyfriend of the woman's daughter.

The video plays the dispatcher's call interactions with Shrewsbury police, who rushed to the home in the 7500 block of Murdoch Avenue.

Officers saw Will pointing a gun at the woman's husband in the corner of a bedroom, court records said. Will also held the gun to his own head, Lohr said.

Shrewsbury police called a St. Louis County police tactical team to negotiate with the gunman. Body-worn cameras show the officers in a tight hallway outside the bedroom.

"What's going on, dude? How are you?" a county police officer asks Will.

Will shouts at them to go away.

Will said he wants to get his dad on the phone. He said he loves his dad.

"I don't want to hurt myself or anyone," Will says.

"OK, then can we put that ... the gun and the knife down for me?" the officer pleads.

"No," Will replies. "That is a really scary gun he's got pointed at me," he adds, referencing the second tactical officer.

When the officer tells Will he's a negotiator, Will tells him he doesn't want anyone to get hurt.

They continued talking for an hour and 16 minutes, which are not shown in the video summary.

The video picks up with Will talking about how he will put his weapons down, but he worries an officer will shoot him.

"I promise I'm not going to shoot you," one officer says.

"It's happened to a million Americans," Will counters.

The man being held at gunpoint said he's videotaping the encounter and adds, "He's not going to shoot you unless you make a motion towards me."

The second tactical officer says, "Man, I'm tired, I'm hungry and I want to go home just like you. OK, I'm not going to shoot you."

Will tells them that, first, he has to scratch an itch. The body camera records the audio, but the vantage point of the two men is blocked by the doorframe. Will again says he is scared and doesn't want to die.

The officers count down, but instead of putting down the gun and knife, Will says he hates jail.

Will wants more assurances. He asks if the officer is going to tackle him, and the officer says no. The officer repeats the plan: Will is going to put the gun down, then the knife, then the victim will walk out of the room, and Will and the officer will go outside and smoke a cigarette together.

"But you're really going to do that?" Will asks.

"Yes, yeah. You have my word," the officer says.

"And you guarantee me a good cell," Will wants to know.

"Yep, we've got it waiting," the second officer answers.

Will: "You swear?"

"I swear," the officer says.

Abruptly, shots are fired, but the officer's body camera's view of Will is blocked. Once the officer moves into the room, Will is visible on the ground, already shot.

The man who was held hostage was uninjured.

Police recovered a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and a folding pocket knife.

The officer fired four shots. Will was hit twice — in the shoulder and in the back of his head, police said.

Will did not fire his weapon, Lohr said.

Will, 30, of Eureka, is charged with burglary, first-degree kidnapping, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. He was hospitalized after the shooting but is now being held in the St. Louis County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.

The St. Louis County police officer who shot Will is 44 and has been on the force 18 years. The officer was not identified. He was in the hallway, standing behind the negotiator.

Vera Clay, a police spokeswoman, said the negotiator was wearing a body camera, but because he was crouching in the doorway, the vantage point shows a bed in the room, not Will's movements. The department didn't release that video footage because the negotiator did not fire any shots, Clay said.

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