Missouri Dad Shot in Front of His 4 Children in Road Rage Incident: Police
A Missouri father was brutally shot in front of his four young children in what police are calling a “road rage incident.”
At around 3:11 p.m. on Monday, police responded to a call regarding shots being fired in south St. Louis, St. Louis County Police Department said in a statement to PEOPLE.
When they arrived on the scene, officials discovered the father had suffered a gunshot wound inside his car, police said. He was then quickly transported to a local hospital.
The father has since been identified as Scott Thomas, 46, a local BBQ food blogger, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
At the time of the shooting, police learned that Thomas’ four children: an 11-year-old boy, 9-year-old boy, 6-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl watched helplessly as their father was attacked. The children were thankfully unharmed.
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Within minutes of police arriving on the scene, a different set of officers with the St. Louis County Police Department conducted a traffic stop nearby on a red Mitsubishi GTS “that was improperly using the shoulder to pass traffic,” police said in the statement.
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An initial investigation revealed that the Mitsubishi was the very vehicle involved in the shooting.
According to the statement, police found two men, later revealed to be brothers, inside the car and they were both taken “into custody without incident.”
On Tuesday, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced that Nicholas Marino, 27, had been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He is being held on a $75,000 bond.
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His brother Joseph Marino, 24, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon. He is being held on a $20,000 bond.
An attorney for the siblings could not immediately be found.
According to the full charges obtained by St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Joseph was driving and Nicholas was in the passenger seat when the shooting occured.
The charges allege that Joseph pulled their car over and pointed a gun at Thomas while Nicholas got out of the car and shot at Thomas at least three times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Thomas suffered non-life threatening injuries and is expected to recover.
