Saint Louis Missouri has encountered a massive spike in homicide violence since the Ferguson riots and protests began.  Last weekend 7 murders took place in a span of 24 hours, and this example below is reflective of how they are being reported.
However, something is just, well, there – visible, on the surface, yet not being discussed.  Take a look at this Daily Mail article and you’ll note the victim was shot twice, once in the chest and then again in the head.  It certainly sounds more like an execution within the motive.   And given the locale, along with the political/racial law enforcement sensitivities, well, you decide….
(Saint Louis) A man has been charged following the murder of a night manager at a Missouri hotel during a robbery attempt in the early hours of Thursday morning.
saint louis hotel murder victim Scott KnopfelSaint Louis hotel murder Joseph Bowens
Scott Knopfel, 50, (far left) was shot in the head at the Drury Inn in St. Louis just before 3 a.m. after he struggled with his assailant while opening a cash drawer.
Joseph Bowens, 43, (left) has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.
Surveillance video shows Bowens, whom the manager mistook for a patron, enter the hotel and leave less than 30 seconds later.  He can be seen pulling out a handgun and vaulting a counter, then leaving the hotel in the same manner.
saint louis hotel murder cctv
Knopfel was killed by two gunshots, one to the chest and one to the head. Police found him deceased behind the front desk of the hotel when they arrived on the scene.
Bowens was arrested in the city on Saturday night, reports CBS
Knopfel’s death was one of six homicides in St. Louis during a 12-hour span – an unusually high number for a city which has a population of about 320,000 people and recorded 159 homicides in 2014.
Police Chief Sam Dotson and Mayor Francis Slay have linked the violence to crime increases in the area documented since the fatal Ferguson police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown more than five months ago in north St. Louis County.
‘To see this much violence going on in our city within such a short period of time, it is absolutely outrageous,’ Slay said. ‘It’s out of hand. It disgusts me.’ (read more)
Another local report here  And another including this:

Mayor Francis Slay applauded the police for nabbing Bowens.
“This was particularly bold and random crime,” he said. “This is someone from out of town. The fact that he left town and was apprehended was amazing.”  (link)

Remember this?

Saint Louis Mayor Slay

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