ST. LOUIS — Police on Monday asked for the public’s help finding a gunman who appeared to have mistakenly shot and critically injured a Christian Brothers College High School hockey player who was riding in a vehicle with his father on Interstate 55.
Department spokesman Mitch McCoy said detectives believe Colin Brown, 16, was hit by a stray bullet on Saturday night and was not targeted in the shooting. McCoy requested neighbors near the intersection of Interstate 55 and Loughborough Avenue check their doorbell or surveillance video footage and contact police.
McCoy said the teen was in critical condition.
“Whoever did this, we are coming for you,” McCoy said. “Expect us to be knocking on your door.”
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Meanwhile, Colin’s family, friends, teachers and coaches gathered to support him.
CBC varsity hockey coach Ryan Trenz said Colin is a quiet kid, except when he’s with good friends or on the ice rink.
“He’s an extremely hardworking kid,” said Trenz. “Anything he’s involved in, you’re going to get 100% of his effort. He’s a great kid. He’s a great teammate. He’s a great hockey player.”
Trenz said he has known Colin and his family for about four years through the school’s hockey program and has visited with Colin’s family at the hospital.
“I think they are doing the best they can,” he said. “They are in as good of spirits as you can be in a situation like this. They’re just outstanding people. They’re always there. They always give 100%. It’s not hard to see where he gets that from.”
More than 100 of Colin’s friends, family and current and past teammates gathered at the ice rink Sunday night to support each other.
“They know Colin is fighting,” Trenz said.
Colin plays hockey for CBC as well as for a club team in Affton, where he gained the nickname “Brownie #72.” At school, his jersey number is 3.
“Nobody should have to go through something like this,” Trenz said. “There’s no playbook for something like this.”
Colin’s father, Calvin Brown, posted a statement from his family to Facebook on Sunday.
“As a family and as a former law enforcement official with over 28 years of experience, we believe that greater efforts are needed in the city of St. Louis and the surrounding region to support the police and equip them with the necessary tools to combat such senseless, violent gun crimes,” he wrote.
Calvin Brown last year retired from the Illinois State Patrol after 22 years with the department. He retired as a lieutenant colonel, according to the department.
McCoy said the gunman or gunmen hit one other car in the shooting. Police closed down I-55 twice over the weekend to recover evidence, but McCoy wouldn’t say what they found. The shooting, he said, was in the southbound lanes; Colin and his dad were driving north.
“This is incredibly rare,” McCoy said. “You do not hear about it, this type of incident, unfolding regularly in the region or city of St. Louis. To be the victim of a stray bullet is rare.”
