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Still no suspects after a 14-year-old was shot outside a North County home last night.

Police say they were called to a home near Lilac and 270 around 10:30 last night. There was a large party taking place at the house. Witnesses said the teen was shot outside the house, but there was no information on who the shooter was.

Police also say they do not know the motive for the attack. The victim is expected to survive.

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is meeting with key lawmakers to attempt a compromise on legislation allowing people to carry concealed guns.

Spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon says Cullerton met earlier Wednesday with Senate and House members who have rival, but similar, measures.

Phelon says there are "core compromises" that can be made to create an acceptable plan.

A top Senate committee voted Tuesday to reject a House-approved version that not only allows the public possession of weapons but invalidates all local ordinances on firearms, such as Chicago's assault-weapons ban.

The same committee advanced a plan by Senate Democrats that excludes the pre-emption of local laws and includes tighter restrictions on carrying guns while drinking alcohol.

 

The hunt for a fugitive in the St. Louis area is over.

The ATF reports that agents have captured Excedrin Collins. The alert for Collins was sent out by the Kansas City ATF office--investigators had reason to believe that he was in the metro area. Collins was wanted for several felonies including assault on a federal agent.

The ATF offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to Collins arrest, but it is not clear if a tip was responsible for authorities finding him.

A suspect is in custody after allegedly shooting into a South St. Louis home.

Police were on the scene when they saw the suspect fire several shots into a home near the intersection of Nebraska and Cherokee. Officers chased the man and caught him just a few blocks away.

No one was injured in the home and it is not known why he shot at the house.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois legislation allowing public possession of concealed guns has passed the House Judiciary Committee. It was a compromise backed by Speaker Michael Madigan.

The measure was endorsed Thursday 13-3 and goes to the full House Friday. It comes two weeks before a June 9 deadline set by a federal appeals court for Illinois to abandon its prohibition on the public possession of weapons.

The legislation would require the Illinois State Police to issue concealed carry permits to qualified gun owners. It's patterned on a bill introduced by gun-rights advocate Rep. Brandon Phelps, a southern Illinois Democrat.

But Madigan's version significantly adds places that would be off limits to guns. Those include mass transit - a must for violence-weary Chicago Democrats.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis County Police have shot and killed a man they say pointed an assault rifle at them.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that police haven't released the man's identity. Police spokesman Randy Vaughn says officers had gone to question the man early Saturday about a stolen car. Vaughn says when two officers arrived at the man's apartment, he opened the door holding an assault rifle and "racked it, chambering a round."

Both officers then fired at the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Vaughn says police recovered the rifle and several other weapons from the man's home.

Vaughn says the officers are on administrative leave until the investigation is completed.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Operators of a Missouri movie theater are apologizing for a stunt in which an actor dressed in black, wearing body armor and carrying a fake rifle walked into the movie house.

The stunt occurred last weekend during a promotion for the movie "Iron Man 3" at the Goodrich Capital 8 Theaters in Jefferson City.

Actors appeared at the theater, including some dressed as officers and one as Iron Man. Another actor was wearing what appeared to be assault gear and carrying a rifle.

Some frightened moviegoers called 911, recalling the shooting in July at a Colorado movie theater during the premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises." That attack killed 12 people.

Management apologized Friday on the theater's Facebook page, saying it was meant to be part of the entertainment.

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri Senate has passed a bill that would allow designated school personnel to carry concealed weapons in school buildings.

The Senate voted 26-6 Thursday to pass the measure. It now heads back to the House for further consideration.

The bill would allow school employees to voluntary become "protection officers" if they have a valid concealed weapons permit and undergo training for the position.

The legislation would also lower the minimum age required to obtain a concealed weapons permit from 21 to 19. It would also allow firearms of less than 16 inches to be openly carried even in municipalities that have ordinances against it.

 

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Missouri authorities are trying to determine what to do with at least 1,700 concealed-carry permit holders who received their required firearms training from a man accused of shortchanging his students.

Fifty-two-year-old Donald Crangle is charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court with seven misdemeanor counts in the case. His attorney, Williams Buchholz, didn't immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that an investigation began when a permit applicant presented a certificate showing he'd received eight hours of firearms training that very day. The St. Louis County police records clerk was stumped because it was only 1:30 p.m.

Undercover officers then attended Crangle's class. Police said participants were told they'd completed the course after just three hours and without meeting any state-mandated criteria.

An alert parent is being credited with stopping a potentially dangerous situation before it could escalate.

Wellston police Sergeant Marvin Berry says the mother of a Normandy High School student saw people exchanging guns inside a car on the school parking lot Tuesday afternoon. She alerted school security. They called police.

Police searched two SUV's and found two handguns. Four people, three of them students, have been arrested.

A letter sent to parents by the school principal, Calvin Nicholas says no one was directly threatened in the incident.