St. Louis sees 7 homicides in 24 hours: 'Criminals have been empowered'

St. Louis has seen seven homicides in 24 hours — a sad reality that Police Chief Sam Dotson said only proves that the “criminals have been empowered” and that more gun control was needed.

Mayor Francis Slay, during a press conference, condemned the recent acts of violence — the latest of which was the robbery and shooting death of a Drury Inn night manager, The Blaze reported.

“To see this much violence going on in our city within such a short period of time — it is absolutely outrageous,” Mr. Slay said, the news outlet reported. “It’s out of hand. It disgusts me.”

The first fatal shooting was Wednesday evening at a home invasion near Fountain Park. Thirty-four-year-old Leon Rivers was killed; a 29-year-old man was arrested, The Blaze reported.

Around midnight, another man was found shot and killed in the hallway of an apartment community in Carondelet, The Blaze reported.

A few minutes later, two men were killed in a robbery attempt in Dutchtown; the next morning, a woman was shot and killed in her car while waiting at a stoplight, The Blaze reported. And then the seventh — at the Drury Inn — capped the 24 hours of violence.

“These acts of violence are intolerable,” Chief Dotson said, suggesting that more gun control was needed.

“[It’s] too easy to get a gun, and state law makes it too difficult to prosecute gun crimes,” he said, The Blaze reported. “Criminals have been empowered. Officers have been distracted.”