[UPDATED] Police Chase Ends in Henious Crash at Grand and Chouteau

Updated at 12:19 pm with info from police.

All the TV news channels are abuzz this morning with a police chase that concluded in a fatal crash that killed three young people in the wee morning hours. It all ended at Grand Boulevard and Chouteau Avenue, and may snarl traffic a bit during the morning rush.

According to KMOV Channel 4 (who had it first), it was this bad:

When the vehicle crashed, it reportedly shred into multiple pieces. Police said it will likely take investigators hours to find all the pieces to the car. St. Louis police Captain Michael Sack described the crash scene as "horiffic."

It appears that just after 2:30 am, officers responded to shots fired at the 2300 block of Minnesota, which is on the southern edge of the Compton Heights neighborhood.

When the cops arrived, four people in their early 20s fled in a Nissan Maxima, and cops apparently saw one of them flashing a handgun (although KSDK Channel 5 wrote that it looked like a rifle).

In any case, the car sped west to Grand, then north. After reaching about 100 miles per hour, it struck one of the concrete planters near Chouteau.

Wrote KTVI Fox2:

two people died on impact. A third person was taken away in an ambulance, but later died.  The fourth person is in critical condition.

UPDATE:

This report has been released by the SLMPD:

Incident: Fatal Vehicle Accident
Location: 800 black of S. Grand
Dates/Times: 9/20/12 @ 2:45
Suspect(s): Two early 20's black males and on early 20's black female who were
pronounced deceased at the scene. One early 20's black male who was transported to a
local hospital in serious but stable condition.
Synopsis: The 3rd District received numerous calls for shots fired in the 2500 block
of Minnesota and surrounding blocks beginning at approximately 11:00pm and extending
to approximately 2:30am. At approximately 2:45am, patrol officers in the area observed
a Nissan Maxima in the area with numerous subjects, including one subject holding what
appeared to be a firearm. Believing that these subjects may be involved in the numerous
shots fired calls in the area, officers attempted to stop the vehicle near Shenandoah;
however, the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. As officers pursued the vehicle, it
crashed into the concrete planters in the 800 block of S. Grand, killing three of the
occupants. Officers have recovered a handgun along the route of the pursuit. No officers
were injured and the investigation is continuing.