ST. LOUIS 鈥 BJC HealthCare on Monday announced it is expanding its free gun lock pilot program at 50度灰视频 Children鈥檚 Hospital to more than 20 locations after a record-setting 163 children were treated there for gunshot wounds in 2022.
Pediatric gunshot injuries spiked at Children鈥檚 during the pandemic, according to research led by Washington University School of Medicine in 50度灰视频. At least 26 children in the region died of gunfire in 2022, according to .
The paper has covered at least 16 shootings involving children through March 26 this year; eight were fatal.
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The hospital鈥檚 gun lock program began in 2021 and has since given out more than 5,000 free gun locks, mostly from 鈥渘o questions asked鈥 baskets in the emergency room. A gun lock is most commonly a cable inserted through the chamber and out the magazine well to prevent the trigger from being pulled.
鈥淚 think access is a big issue,鈥 said Dr. Lindsay Clukies, a Washington University emergency physician at 50度灰视频 Children鈥檚 Hospital. 鈥淵ou know, a lot of people say, 鈥極h, I teach my child not to touch a firearm if they see it.鈥 But we know through data that is not enough. Children are curious, and it鈥檚 developmentally appropriate to touch things, to feel things and to get into things.鈥
The circumstances in each shooting are different, but most often, Clukies said, they are preventable.
Clukies said a team of doctors, nurses, social workers and other professionals worked to launch a pilot program in which every family that came into the Children鈥檚 Hospital emergency room 鈥 for ailments ranging from colds to gunshot wounds 鈥 was asked about guns in their homes and how they were being stored.
Those with firearms in the home were offered free gun locks.
The hospital followed up with the families who took a free gun lock and reported about two-thirds said they were using it.
鈥淪o we are now offering free gun locks, no questions asked, in all emergency departments BJC-wide in Illinois and Missouri,鈥 Clukies said.
Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children nationwide, according to The New England Journal of Medicine.
鈥淭o be honest, we weren鈥檛 sure of the reactions we were going to get,鈥 Clukies said of launching the firearm screening project. 鈥淚 think all of us were shocked with how positive the reactions were.
鈥淔amilies were just so grateful,鈥 she continued. 鈥淚 think most people in the back of their head know they are supposed to keep their firearm locked, but I think the ease of us handing them the gun lock to do so, just made it a little bit more real for families.鈥
Children injured or killed by gunfire in the 50度灰视频 area in 2023
Below is the 50度灰视频 coverage of children who have been injured or killed by gunfire across the 50度灰视频 metropolitan area in 2023. The children are 17 years old or younger.
At least 68 children were injured or killed by gunshots. Twenty-one were killed; 4 were 11 or younger.
These are not all the homicides involving children. .
A 16-year-old was shot and killed during a domestic disturbance in Troy, Missouri.
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the Mark Twain neighborhood. The teen told police he was in an alley when he saw a car pull up and fire six shot…
Police say the woman was shot multiple times and the 5-year-old girl sustained a graze-wound to the head about 5 a.m.听
Demetrius Hill, 15, was shot multiple times around 1:30 a.m. in the 4900 Leahy Avenue, police said.
A 17-year-old was in critical stable condition after he was shot just after midnight in the Mark Twain I-70 Industrial neighborhood. He was dr…
The teenager was found shot multiple times in his legs around 4:55 p.m. in the 5500 block of Hebert Street, police said.听
A 5-year-old child found a gun and shot himself in the hand, charging documents alleged.
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg Monday morning while walking his bike on the sidewalk along Natural Bridge Avenue.听Police said people in…
A 13-year-old girl was shot in the leg in the city's Penrose neighborhood, authorities said.
A 15-year-old boy and聽suffered a graze wound to his right hip, according to 50度灰视频 police.
A teenager and a 21-year-old woman were shot and injured while in a car in the city's Columbus Square neighborhood.听The teenager was shot in t…
Police say a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed early Sunday morning near Gravois Park, and they identified another 16-year-old boy as the suspect.
The boy was hit in the foot in the 100 block of Countryside Lane in O'Fallon, Illinois.
A 13-year-old boy was shot in the head, and a 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg in the 3200 block of Delor Street, police said.
Police identified the victim as 16-year-old Antonio Thompson. He was killed in the 5800 block of Minerva Avenue.
A 2-year-old girl was shot in the hand Saturday evening as she walked up the steps to her home in the city's Mark Twain neighborhood, police said.
Kaitlyn Drake, 17,聽died after being taken to a hospital. Investigators believe the shooting was accidental and self-inflicted.
A 9-year-old child was shot and injured Wednesday morning when someone opened fire on a home in north 50度灰视频 County.
Belleville police were called just after 6:30 p.m. to the first block of South 88th Street; the girl was pronounced dead at a hospital
Walter Macon, 45, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and armed criminal action after he left the boy in a truck with a loaded gun.
A father shot three people, including a child, on Monday afternoon after a fight between two groups of kids escalated in south 50度灰视频, mult…
The boy told police he was walking around 2 a.m. in the 3900 block of Greer Avenue when he heard as many as 10 gunshots.
Police said they have not found a connection between the shootings, but they haven't ruled out that they may be connected.
The girl was shot at 9:30 p.m. in the 4200 block of South Grand Boulevard. Police were told an unknown man got out of a black SUV and fired shots.
Two boys, 16 and 17, and a 19-year-old man were shot around 12:40 a.m. in the 1400 block of Ohio Avenue.
The teen was fatally shot just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday聽in the 14300 block of Ocean View Court.
The boy said he was walking home with another person when they heard a gunshot near Riverview Boulevard and Jordan; the boy realized he had be…
Brandon Scott was shot inside a home just before 10 p.m. Monday in the 1800 block of Roosevelt Avenue; two men were charged with first-degree murder.
Police said the boy's 14-year-old cousin apparently had been loading the weapon and left it on a bed. The 9-year-old picked up the gun and acc…
Ten teens (six 17 or younger) were shot, one died; one was trampled as others tried to escape the building.
The shooting was at the Mobil Crown Mart gas station and convenience store at 5580 Martin Luther King Drive.
Authorities said Monday the preliminary information suggests the girl was hit by stray bullets.
The girl told police she was at the BP gas station, 1401 Chouteau Ave., just before 9 p.m. when she heard gunshots coming from outside.
The boy was shot聽shortly before 3 p.m. in the 1300 block of Aspen Woods Drive, 50度灰视频 County police Officer Adrian Washington said.听
The incident took place at Vandeventer Avenue and Chouteau Avenue at around 1 a.m. Saturday.
11-year-old David Winston shot himself in the head. The child had autism and would frequently watch TV in a room where a gun was kept.
A man was charged after he shot a 57-year-old man and injured a 45-year-old woman and teenage girl.
Four people were shot, two died in the incident. The 17-year-olds were both pregnant, one had to have an emergency C-section.听
Officers found a 21-year-old woman dead outside the home and the two injured victims 鈥 an 18-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy 鈥 inside.
Police were called around 1 p.m. for a report of a teen shot in the 5800 block of Selber Court. Police said the shooting was accidental.听
The boy would not answer questions about what happened and refused emergency medical services.听
The boy, about 11 years old, was breathing when EMS crews got to him. They rushed the child to a hospital but his condition wasn't immediately…
A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed late Wednesday in the city's O'Fallon neighborhood.听
The 50度灰视频 County Medical Examiner's Office said James Bond was killed in the 6800 block of Larry Lane in Berkeley.
Police arrested a man who showed a gun to two juveniles. A 16-year-old boy used the gun to fatally shoot himself, authorities said.
Officers responded around 8:20 p.m. to a call for a shooting in the 1400 block of South 10th Street.
The teenage boy and a 55-year-old man were critically injured after being shot as they sat in a parked vehicle at North Euclid Avenue and Hamm…
Emily Valentine, 15,聽was found on a parking pad in聽the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue, in the city's Gravois Park neighborhood.
Major Ron Martin of the North County Police Cooperative said the 15-year-old girl was hospitalized Wednesday and is expected to survive.
Emily Valentine, 15,聽was found on a parking pad in聽the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue, in the city's Gravois Park neighborhood.
A 13-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the face by her younger sibling in 50度灰视频鈥 Gravois Park neighborhood.
The teenage girl was critically hurt and聽21-year-old Tyrell Survillion died. They were shot in a vehicle in聽the 4400 block of Ashland Avenue.
Police found the body of Dontaevion Little in the rear alley of the 4200 block of St. Ferdinand Avenue.
The boy was shot by a man who, police noted, was shot at by the boy first.听
Lydia Elking聽was a passenger in a car driven by another teen. Lydia was shot in a residential area聽near Oak Avenue and Perry Street in St. Charles.
Jayden McCain was found shot in a parking lot聽in the 1800 block of High Sun Drive.
Jamorie Cannon was killed in the 800 block of O'Fallon Street.
Police are still trying to determine who fired the gun inside the home in the 1000 block of LaSalle Park Court.
Devon Montgomery, 16, was shot when two people drew their guns and began firing at the聽Pilgrim Green Missionary Baptist Church. Two men were a…
The boy was critically hurt after his 4-year-old brother fired the gun. The boys' grandfather, Markeith Mayo, was charged with endangering the…
Children injured or killed by gunfire in the 50度灰视频 area in 2022
Below is the 50度灰视频 coverage of children who have been injured or killed by gunfire across the 50度灰视频 metropolitan area in 2022. Police define a child as anyone 17 years old or younger.
As of Dec. 29, at least 120 children this year have been shot across the metropolitan area, including 26 who died. Nearly all of them were in 50度灰视频.
A regional team of detectives is investigating the Christmas Eve killing of a 17-year-old boy, LaShawn Bell.
Jaylen Miles was found dead聽in the backyard of a vacant home in the 10600聽block of Spring Garden Drive.
The woman was shot in the thumb, and her teenage daughter suffered a graze wound to her arm at聽Riverview Boulevard and Garesche Avenue.
He was discovered dead聽in the backyard of a vacant home聽in the 10600聽block of Spring Garden Drive.
Demond Tucker was found shot dead in a parking lot just after 4:30 p.m. in the 8300 block of Octavia Avenue.
A 12-year-old boy was shot in the ankle in the city's Baden neighborhood.听
The shooting happened near Branter Place and Webster Avenue, according to a police report.
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the afternoon in the city's Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.
The shooting happened around 2 p.m. near the intersection of Page Boulevard and North Taylor Avenue in the Lewis Place neighborhood.
Jacob Ashford, 14, was killed just after 7 p.m. in the 5300 block of Northland Avenue. He was found on a porch and pronounced dead at the scene.
Lamarion Davis聽was shot dead about 1:30 a.m. Saturday in the 400 block of North 10th Street in downtown 50度灰视频.
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg Monday morning while waiting for a bus in the city's Baden neighborhood.
Police on Sunday identified a teen killed in a double shooting that left another teen injured in the city's Greater Ville neighborhood.听
A Hazelwood teenager said he was shot in the leg Wednesday near Pine Street and Tucker Boulevard in downtown 50度灰视频.
Prosecutors charged a man after an 11-year-old boy was shot at a home Wednesday in Belleville.
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the knee Wednesday morning in the city's Ville neighborhood.听
Police said the boy was in a car with four other teenagers when four or five males emerged from a gangway and opened fire on the vehicle.
The teen was dropped off at a hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg around 6 p.m., police said.听
A 16-year-old girl was shot in the hip Wednesday in the city's Carr Square neighborhood.听
Two boys, 14 and 16, were shot Monday afternoon after stealing a woman's car from her home in north 50度灰视频, police said.
They both told police they heard gunshots then were hit.听
Tony Montana Fingers, 17, was killed just after 10 p.m. Sunday in the 3600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in south 50度灰视频.
The shooting happened at 3 a.m. somewhere near Sullivan and Elliott avenues.
Alexzandria Bell, 15, was one of two people killed in a school shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High school and Collegiate Schoo…
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg and back Thursday morning while walking down a street in the city's Penrose neighborhood.
The teenager told police he was at a birthday party when he stepped outside, heard a gunshot and then felt pain in his thigh where he'd been s…
He and a 12-year-old ran from a man with a gun, who fired at them, hitting the older boy in the leg.
Police said a 13-year-old and his 18-year-old cousin were "play fighting" when the younger was shot.
A toddler was shot in the head in the parking lot of an AutoZone in the 3600 block of Kingshighway.
A 14-year-old boy shot in the back was found critically injured in a 50度灰视频 gangway Sunday night, authorities said.
They were shot聽behind the 4100 block of South Compton Avenue. One refused to tell police what happened. The other said they were walking in th…
A 50度灰视频 teenager hid his bullet wound from his mother for days, limping around the house and telling her he got hurt on a playground, poli…
Darryl Ross, 16, of 50度灰视频, died at a hospital after he was shot about 11:30 p.m. near the Shell gas station聽at North Florissant and St. Lo…
Officers responded to a shooting about 1 p.m. in the 900 block of Melvin Avenue, in the Baden neighborhood just east of Jennings.
Police were called to reports of the shooting in the 1000 block of Washington Avenue just before 9 p.m.听
A teenage girl was recovering after being grazed by a bullet Thursday night in Cahokia Heights, authorities said.
A teen was injured in a shooting Saturday in the city's Grand Center neighborhood.听
A man was killed and a 14-year-old was wounded in a shooting in the city's Hamilton Heights neighborhood.听
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the jaw Tuesday evening in the city's Carr Square neighborhood.听
A 13-year-old boy arrived at a 50度灰视频 hospital early Saturday with a gunshot wound to his elbow.
A man was killed and a 16-year-old was wounded after a shooting in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood.听
A 17-year-old was shot in the arm Thursday in the city's Peabody-Darst-Webbe neighborhood.听
Jamari Adams, 17, was shot and killed just after 1:15 a.m. in the 1500 block of Cass Avenue, near the edge of the 50度灰视频 Place neighborhood.
A 2-year-old shot himself in the foot with a gun belonging to a teen who did not properly secure it.听
A teen was shot and killed inside a downtown 50度灰视频 train and bus station.
She was conscious and breathing after being shot in the back about 4:15 a.m. Monday in the 5900 block of Sherry Avenue.
Two teenagers injured by gunfire in separate north 50度灰视频 shootings.
Two teens were shot early Monday in the city's Walnut Park West neighborhood.
A 12-year-old was shot in the head while riding in a car late Tuesday in the city's Penrose neighborhood.
A 16-year-old boy was shot late Wednesday just south of Downtown, in the city's Peabody-Darst-Webbe neighborhood.听
Makahyah Griffin, 17,聽was shot and killed near the intersection of Maffitt Avenue and Union Boulevard in the Kingsway West neighborhood.
The teens, 16 and 13, were shot just after 4 p.m. in the 3500 block of the city's Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood.听
A 50度灰视频 man allowed a 4-year-old boy to get ahold of a pistol before fatally shooting himself with it, prosecutors say.
A 16-year-old was fatally shot overnight in Jefferson County, the sheriff's office said in a statement Sunday.
A 3-year-old died after the shooting at North 15th Street and East Broadway in East 50度灰视频; an 11-year-old was injured.
Two girls were inside a home on South Spring Avenue when bullets, apparently fired from outside, hit them about 12:45 a.m. Monday.
Two teenagers were shot Saturday evening and later died in what police are calling a murder-suicide in Glasgow Village.
A baby girl was shot in an attempted carjacking in the city's Fairground neighborhood. The suspect who tried to carjack a woman was also shot.听
Two girls, 13 and 14, were shot and wounded about 8 p.m. in downtown 50度灰视频, police said, when gunfire erupted as officers responded to fig…
The shooting happened around 5:15 a.m.
The shooting happened around 9 p.m. near Labadie and Clarence avenues.
Police identified the teenager Sunday as Kyierah Jeffries, 16.
The shooting appeared to be accidental.听
A man was killed and a woman and teenage girl were critically injured when suspects blocked the victims' SUV and opened fire in the 5000 block…
The boy was one of several children playing outside in the 5000 block of 50度灰视频 Avenue.听
The boy was shot in an alley of the 3200 block of Nebraska Avenue.听
A 15-year-old boy was shot in the shoulder in the city's O'Fallon neighborhood.
The boy found the gun under a mattress at a home in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood.
The boy told police a friend accidentally shot him, but police say he provided conflicting accounts of what happened.
He was hit in both legs as he walked near Wells and Rowan avenues.
The girl and her grandmother were walking near Olive and Locust streets when the girl screamed in pain and had what appeared to be a bullet gr…
The teen arrived at a hospital around 11:45 p.m. reporting he was shot near North Broadway and Switzer Avenue, according to police.
He was injured in the 11900 block of Rio Grande Drive, between Riverview Drive and Larimore Road, in North County.听
He told officers he had gotten out of his vehicle and was going into his home when he was shot.
Shot in the head, the younger boy died at the scene, along Missouri Avenue.
The boy told police that someone in a vehicle opened fire on him and a young woman as they were walking.
The boy was shot and critically injured聽after getting hold of a gun in a Swansea apartment.
The child was shot in the thigh, and a man in his 20s had a graze wound to his head.听
Police said a 10-year-old had been playing with a gun the two found when it fired, shooting the 12-year-old.
The shooting was in the 900 block of LaSalle Park Court, south of Chouteau Avenue.
Family members said that they believed that the deaths early Friday morning were accidental.听
The boy, 13, accidentally shot himself in the foot, police said.听
The boy was shot around 9 p.m. in the 1400 block of North Eighth Street as he was standing in a parking lot with two other teens.
The teen, shot in the face, was one of three people hurt.听
Terrion Smith was found shot聽inside the lobby of the Ely Walker lofts at 1520 Washington Avenue.
Bullets came through a wall of a home on Athlone Avenue and hit the girls and a 51-year-old man.
Police initially responded to an alarm sounding in the 9300 block of Lewis and Clark Boulevard.听
The boys, 17 and 16, arrived at Barnes-Jewish hospital late Thursday.听
The teen was shot about 11:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Hickory Lane, in the聽Clinton-Peabody housing complex.
The boy was聽hit just before noon Sunday, then returned fire on the group that shot at him.
The children, both girls, suffered gunshot wounds to their legs, police said.听
The boys told police they were walking to a pizza restaurant when they heard shots behind them.
She was shot in the ankle while playing in her front yard in the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue.
Officers fired at the car Christopher Jones was in after it hit a police car. Police were investigating a "suspicious vehicle."
The girl was shot in the arm at a gathering at her grandmother's house on Bessie Avenue.
Police found the boy on the ground, near聽Highland Avenue and Union Boulevard, with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
He wouldn't cooperate with police trying to investigate, officers said.
A bullet grazed the boy in the back of his leg in the 4700 block of South Spring Avenue.
The boy, 13, told officers he was out walking on Mimika Avenue shortly before 10 p.m. when he heard gunfire and then felt pain in his back, po…