NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO (KTVI) - A twenty year old Alton woman is
dead after suffering a gunshot wound while in police custody. The dead
woman’s family says she managed to get the gun away from an Alton police
officer and kill herself. Police have not confirmed or denied any
details from the Wednesday morning shooting.
It happened on the service road to Missouri Highway 367 near Dunn
Road. 20 year old Stephanie Hicks was being driving by that officer to
BJC Christian Hospital on what police referred to as a crisis
intervention.
Family members say Hicks has had a history of mental problems, and
was known to Alton Police. Her mother says the young woman was walking
across the Alton Bridge; on the way to seek help herself, when the Alton
officer, a thirteen year veteran, picked her up. Police confirm he was driving her to the hospital when the shooting happened.
Outside Alton Police Headquarters, Robbin Hicks, the girl’s mother, shared what details she says police had given her.


“She was walking across the bridge to go to the hospital to check
herself in because she knew she needed the help. And the Alton police
were transporting her and she grabbed their gun and she did it,” the
distraught mother said as she choked back tears.