أغر؟´«أ½

ST. LOUIS •آ Police from أغر؟´«أ½ and East أغر؟´«أ½ traded gunshots Sunday night in Washington Park with suspects in the fatal shooting downtown earlier that day of a 2013 DeSmet Jesuit High School graduate, police said Monday.

Three suspects escaped on foot after leading police on a short car chase, Illinois State Police spokesman Lt. Dave Bivens said.

Bobby Christman, 19, of أغر؟´«أ½ County was shot during a robbery attempt as he sat in the front passenger seat of a car parked at Lucas and North 15th streets near the Washington Avenue restaurant and entertainment area, police said. A woman, 19, was in the rear seat. Another teen, 17, also was in the car.

The suspect's vehicle pulled up next to Christman's car and a man got out with a handgun, police said. He opened the rear driver’s side door of the parked car and tried to grab the woman’s purse. She resisted, police said. Christman said something to the gunman, who then fired the shot that struck Christman, police said witnesses told them. The gunman then jumped back in a vehicle and fled.

أغر؟´«أ½ Police Chief Sam Dotson said the suspects were in a silver 2004 Chrysler Sebring carjacked downtown last week.

After Sunday's fatal shooting, city police tracked the car to the Washington Park area. About 6:30 p.m. Sunday, the car fled أغر؟´«أ½ and East أغر؟´«أ½ police and someone in the car fired shots at city officers. No officers were hit. Police returned fire but it is not clear if the suspects were wounded.آ 

The suspects bailed out of the vehicle after a short chase and ran off near 50th Street and Caseyville Avenue in Washington Park. Police recovered the car and are analyzing it for evidence.

"They bailed out, ran, and the way (detectives) described it, it was a field of vacant buildings," Dotson said. "And so obviously, it's not our neighborhoods, we're not familiar with it. I think for an officer safety issue, the officer made the right choice not to pursue through an area he's unfamiliar with."

Dotson said officers are hoping the car will lead to the suspects in Christman's death.

Police said Christman was unconscious when they arrived at 12:43 a.m. Sunday. He was taken to a hospital, where he died about 6 p.m.

Christman lived in the 7100 block of Tournament Drive in south أغر؟´«أ½ County. He was a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State University, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

Tributes and memories filled social media Sunday after word went out that he had died.

“Please join us as the De Smet Jesuit family unites in prayer tonight for the Christman family and all of Bobby’s friends,â€‌آ the De Smet Ministry tweeted.

“Bobby was just one of those kids who worked really, really hard at everything he did — really motivated at getting good grades, succeeding academically and athletically,â€‌ said Pat Mahoney, head football coach at De Smet. “His family was very important to him. He and his brother were very close.â€‌

Christman’s brother, Sean, is on the football team at De Smet. Bobby Christman was a wrestler there.

“It’s just one more tragedy,â€‌ Mahoney said. “It’s absolutely tragic. I don’t know any other word for it.â€‌

Mahoney said Christmanآ was strong andآ would not have allowed someone to grab a woman’s purse without taking some action or saying something.

Jordan Schrempf, a fraternity brother in the fraternity at Southeast, said Christman was outgoing, oozed charisma, and was the life of the party but “absolutely a serious student.â€‌

Alex Vaughn, who wrestled against Bobby Christman in high school, is also a fraternity brother and said Christman was part of the wrestling club at SEMO. “He was everything you would want your kid to grow up to be,â€‌ Vaughn said. “He was very involved in the fraternity and loved everything about SEMO and all his friends and would have done anything for any of us.â€‌

Anyone with information in the shooting is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477.