St. Louis Man Accidentally Shoots Himself Chasing Burglars

Updated and corrected: 2:37 p.m. Friday

A 51-year-old man is out of the hospital and recovering after accidentally shooting himself early Thursday morning while chasing off a group of men breaking into a car.

According to St. Louis police, the man heard a disturbance around 4:41 a.m. outside his home in the 4600 block of Vernon. Peering outside, the man saw three black males rummaging through a relative's car parked on the street.

The victim's grandson tells Daily RFT today that the suspects were leaving in another vehicle when the man stepped onto his porch with a gun to try to write down the license plate numbers. That's when he slipped on ice and fell, causing the gun to fire and shoot him above the knee.  

The suspects fled from the scene in what police describe as a small, dark-colored four-door vehicle. Police say the victim was the registered owner of the gun. An investigation is ongoing.

Corrections: The accidental gunshot did not frighten off the suspects as Daily RFT originally reported. The suspects were already leaving the scene. We also initially got the age of the victim wrong. We regret the errors.