Police investigating St. Louis looting following execution

ST. LOUIS – Police are looking into calls for chaos on social media in the wake of Tuesday evening’s execution of 55-year-old Marcellus Williams at the state prison in Bonne Terre.

Looting has temporarily closed one store: the Kids Foot Locker at Grand and Page Boulevards in north St. Louis.

Police can’t say for sure yet if there’s a connection, but they do know this: shortly after the execution, there was an uptick in social media chatter about looting St. Louis stores in response.

Shortly after that came the break-in and looting at the Kids Foot Locker store, where large boards now cover the shattered windows.

Police report more than a dozen burglaries, attempted burglaries, and alarm calls in the 12 hours following the execution. A few of the incidents have raised eyebrows.

Witnesses say more than a dozen people looted the business around 9 p.m. Tuesday night.

There was a break-in at the Rainbow Apparel a few doors down, but no losses were reported beyond the shattered door.

Around that same time, someone shattered the doors at Randall’s Wine and Spirits near Interstate 44 and Jefferson Avenue in south St. Louis, about three miles from the other two crime scenes. A manager at Randall’s says the suspects never actually made it into the store.

Police report no arrests so far. Below are samples of social media chatter just after the execution:

“We looting tonight,” wrote one poster.

“Let the looting begin,” another said.

There were multiple responses in opposition to such action, including this one:

“If you know Marcellus, you know looting ain’t the move!”

Williams’ son quoted his father in a video post, saying, “I don’t want nobody rioting, looting, stealing nothing, killing nobody, fighting the police.”

Marcellus Williams was convicted of the 1998 stabbing death of former Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle during a burglary at her home in University City.

Supporters maintained his innocence. After his final appeals failed, he was executed by lethal injection at 6:10 p.m. Tuesday evening.

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