Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Big Bloody: Centreville Police Officer Shot and Killed
Posted By Chad Garrison on Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Centreville police officer Lt. Gregory Jonas was shot and killed early this morning while patrolling the Ernest Smith Senior Apartments in the Metro East city.
Jonas, 58, was in uniform around 2:30 a.m. when someone came up behind the veteran officer and shot him in the back of the head. He died on the scene in the 4700 block of Tudor Avenue.
View Centreville Police Officer Murdered Early This Morning, June 2 in a larger map
A resident of the apartment complex told stltoday.com that Jonas was well-liked for attempting to weed out neighborhood violence. "He was watching over us," said Lillie Smith, who rushed outside to comfort Jonas as he lay dying.
"He was shot up pretty bad, in the left eye," Smith told stltoday.com. "He was trying to say something. I stayed with him until the police arrived. I just told him, 'Hold on.' But he couldn't. That's sad. That's very sad."
Police have yet to make any arrests. The Major Case Squad is assisting in the investigation.
Jonas, 58, was in uniform around 2:30 a.m. when someone came up behind the veteran officer and shot him in the back of the head. He died on the scene in the 4700 block of Tudor Avenue.
View Centreville Police Officer Murdered Early This Morning, June 2 in a larger map
A resident of the apartment complex told stltoday.com that Jonas was well-liked for attempting to weed out neighborhood violence. "He was watching over us," said Lillie Smith, who rushed outside to comfort Jonas as he lay dying.
"He was shot up pretty bad, in the left eye," Smith told stltoday.com. "He was trying to say something. I stayed with him until the police arrived. I just told him, 'Hold on.' But he couldn't. That's sad. That's very sad."
Police have yet to make any arrests. The Major Case Squad is assisting in the investigation.
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