St. Louis County Police are refusing to discuss the specifics of officer Matthew McCulloch's status in the department in the days leading up to Sunday's shooting at a Kirkwood middle school — a period of erratic behavior that appears to have spanned at least the full weekend, if not longer, and culminated with the shooting at the Tillman Elementary trunk or treat event.
On Sunday, the 39-year-old officer opened fire with a handgun at the event after allegedly threatening a woman and then being pushed to the ground by her husband. Before he opened fire, witnesses say they heard him yell, “You are all going to die.”
On Monday, McCulloch was charged with 11 felonies related to the incident, including child endangerment and making terroristic threats. The son of former St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch and nephew of St. Charles County Prosecutor Joe McCulloch, Matthew McCulloch is currently still in jail, with a bond reduction hearing set for next week. He has been suspended from the force without pay.
McCulloch’s alarming behavior appears to have begun days prior to the shooting. Multiple people tell the RFT that on Friday night a person who fit the description of McCulloch drove his car into other motorists in downtown Kirkwood and yelled out his car window, "You're all going to die. You're next!"
McCulloch’s attorney, Brian Millikan, wrote in a court filing that McCulloch "agrees he is in urgent need of a mental health evaluation and treatment."
But what remains unclear is when McCulloch began exhibiting such very public signs of distress. Also unclear is how the pattern of behavior overlapped with his job in law enforcement.
St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson Adrian Washington would only say that McCulloch was “active” on the force up until Sunday and the matter is currently the subject of an internal investigation.
Asked if he had demonstrated any disturbing behavior or if he had been put on leave prior to the shooting, Washington said that because that question involves personnel matters, "we cannot answer."
Washington said in a subsequent email that because there is an internal investigation, requests for information need to be submitted through the county’s sunshine portal.
One Kirkwood resident reached out to the RFT yesterday, saying he was at an area park in the evening on Monday, October 9 — six days before the trunk or treat event — when he witnessed a man in an SUV-type vehicle yell out that everyone at the park was going to die. The witness, who asked that his name not be published, stressed said he’s unsure if it was McCulloch, but he can’t help but wonder if the officer’s pattern of bizarre, threatening behavior had been going on for nearly a week prior to the shooting of the school.
The lack of clarity from police isn’t helping.
"The pattern certainly fits," he tells the RFT. "And if he had been doing this back til Monday, it begs the question what was he doing the rest of the week and what did his employer see and know."
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