A male St Louis police officer was on Friday charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a female officer during what was described as a deadly game with a revolver.
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced the charge against 29-year-old Nathaniel Hendren in the death of 24-year-old Katlyn Alix, as they allegedly played a game in which a revolver’s cylinder was emptied, one bullet put back and the two colleagues took turns pointing at each other and pulling the trigger.
Alix was with two male officers at an apartment when she was killed just before 1am on Thursday.
A probable cause statement from police, provided by Gardner’s office, offered a chilling account of the dangerous game that led to her death.
The probable cause statement said that Alix and Hendren were playing with guns when Hendren produced a revolver.
“The defendant emptied the cylinder of the revolver and then put one cartridge back into the cylinder,” the statement said.
He reportedly spun the cylinder, pointed the gun away and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire.
The statement said that Alix took the gun, pointed it at Hendren and pulled the trigger; again, it did not fire.
Hendren “took the gun back and pointed it at the victim [and] pulled the trigger, causing the gun to discharge,” the statement said. “The victim was struck in the chest.”
The other male officer told investigators that he warned Hendren and Alix not to play with guns and reminded them that they were police officers.
He was about to leave when he heard the fatal shot, the statement said.
The male officers drove Alix to a hospital, where she died.
Hendren also was charged with armed criminal action.
The two men were on-duty at the time of the shooting.
St Louis Police Commissioner John Hayden has declined to answer questions about why the officers had gathered at the apartment, which was home to one of the men.
St Louis police said that the charges were the result of a promise Hayden made to Alix’s family to conduct a “thorough and competent investigation.”
Alix, a military veteran who was married, was not on duty, but met the men at the apartment.
Police immediately launched an internal investigation and placed both officers on paid leave.
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