ST. LOUIS (AP) - A former St. Louis police officer found himself in a familiar situation earlier this week during an armed robbery that targeted a bar popular with off-duty and retired officers.
One woman died and several people were injured during Tuesday's shooting in south St. Louis. Authorities would not say whether the incident was connected to the unrest in Ferguson that followed a grand jury's decision not to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old.
Three men attempted to rob Pooh's Corner on Tuesday, entering the tavern and ordering everyone to the floor as one man shot into the ceiling, ,the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The 65-year-old former officer, who worked for the department in the 1970s and was not named by police, was shot in the thigh. He returned fire, striking two suspects.
Just six years earlier, in 2008, the ex-officer was bartending and shot a would-be robber at the tavern, which has been a target three times since it opened in 1990.
Prosecutors have charged both 29-year-old Corey Wade, who is in critical condition after being shot in the eye, and 20-year-old Derreaun Davis, who was struck in the shoulder, with first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, attempted robbery and armed criminal action.
The St. Louis Circuit Clerk's Office said the men don't have an attorney yet. A third person fled in a stolen vehicle, investigators said.
Diana Lawrence, 63, was shot in the back of her head and died Wednesday after being removed from life support.
Two others aside from Wade, Davis and the former officer were injured. A 73-year-old man was in critical condition after being shot in the ankle, and a 66-year-old man was shot twice in his buttocks.
The business was open Wednesday. Some expressed surprise that a known hangout would be targeted by robbers.
"It's amazing that it happened the first time," said Phil "Ward Cleaver" Scharf, 65, of St. Louis.