Major Case Squad is investigating fatal shooting at Belleville gas station
The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis is investigating a shooting at a Belleville gas station that left one man dead Saturday night.
Belleville police were dispatched to the ZX gas station at 420 Carlyle Ave. at 10:39 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release from Belleville Police Department on Sunday morning.
When officers arrived, they found a 51-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds lying on the parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene, despite officers performing CPR and EMT personnel attempting other life-saving measures.
“I have no comment,” said a gas-station employee who answered the phone early Sunday afternoon before hanging up abruptly.
The victim’s identity isn’t being released until next of kin is notified. Police are looking for a suspect who was described to them as a black male, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and black pants, the release stated.
Belleville Capt. Mark Heffernan will serve as deputy commander of the Major Case Squad for this investigation. Police are expected to release further details of the shooting Sunday afternoon or Monday.
“At this point, the notification of the family is critical, so I don’t want to get too out in front of what we’ve already released,” Heffernan said Sunday morning.
ZX is next door to Elite Retreat Day Spa & Salon, which is closed for 10 days due to an employee testing positive for COVID, according to its Facebook page. The gas station is across McClintock Avenue from Zion Lutheran Church and School.
The Major Case Squad had just been called in to investigate another metro-east death on Saturday afternoon, when the body of an unidentified man was found in a lot off of Emerald Mound Road, near Lebanon.
A year ago, a 22-year-old Shiloh man was charged in connection with four armed robberies, including one that occurred Dec. 2, 2019, at the same ZX gas station on Carlyle Avenue.
Anyone with information on the Belleville shooting is urged to call the Major Case Squad at 618-355-9793 or CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477.
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 11:45 AM.
