Belleville officers respond to disturbance on 11th Street, find stolen gun

About a dozen Belleville police units rushed to a report of shots fired Thursday afternoon in a Belleville neighborhood. No shots were fired, police said, but they did find a gun that had been reported stolen.

Officers responded just before 1 p.m. to a residence in the first block of North 11th Street where several people were arguing. According to reports, at least one of them had a gun.

In front of the home several people were loudly arguing. Police blocked off both ends of the street and confronted a crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk.

“Belleville police responded to the first block of North 11th Street in reference to a disturbance,” Sgt. Mark Heffernan said. While officers were en route, dispatcher relayed that one person involved in the disturbance may have been armed with a firearm.

“Officers arrived and located a large group of subjects,” Heffernan said. “Officers also observed a subject matching the description of the armed subject nearby.”

Heffernan said police got written permission to search the SUV and located a handgun inside. It was found to have been reported stolen by St. Louis County police.

At least one officer was walking in the area with a rifle in hand. He eventually returned it to his patrol car.

Eventually, a tow truck arrived and hauled off the SUV while at least one person was led in handcuffs to a patrol car and taken away. Heffernan said the SUV was “associated” with the suspect who was reported to be armed.

No one else at the scene was arrested. But a woman argued loudly with police for several minutes before she was allowed by officers to leave on her own.

Neighbors in the area said there have been several heated moments in the last couple of weeks at the row house where the disturbance took place.

Initial reports indicated that shots may have been fired. But neighbors in the area said they didn’t hear any gunfire and that the first they knew of the disturbance was when an army of police officers, with their sirens wailing, arrived.

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Belleville officers respond to disturbance on 11th Street, find stolen gun."