A person was stabbed to death outside Busch Stadium within the early morning hours of Monday, May 4, shortly after a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Let me be very clear, this might have happened anywhere,” St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Mitch McCoy said during a news briefing. “This might have happened anywhere, but what happened tonight was a dispute between two people. Unfortunately, it happened at a treasured St. Louis staple.”
Officers responded to a stabbing around 3 a.m. near the south side of the stadium, where the players park. A 27-year-old man was found dead and a 65-year-old man was taken into custody, in line with police.
Preliminary investigations indicate there was a dispute between third-party contractors hired to work the baseball game.
“We’re aware of an isolated altercation that occurred between two on-site contracted individuals throughout the overnight hours on Monday morning,” the Cardinals said in a press release, confirming the victim and suspect didn’t work directly for the MLB team. “St. Louis Metropolitan Police were dispatched to research and our security team is cooperating with the department in its investigation.”
The statement added, “The security and security of our fans, guests and employees stays our highest priority and we’re confident our stadium security measures were under no circumstances compromised last night.”
The Cardinals requested that any additional inquiries in regards to the incident be directed to authorities.
The sport between the Cardinals and Dodgers ended at roughly 4:45 p.m. local time. St. Louis hosted the Milwaukee Brewers in the primary of a three-game homestand at Busch Stadium on Monday night, which happened without incident.
Los Angeles left town after defeating the Cardinals 4-1 on Sunday night, traveling to Houston where they opened up a three-game series against the Astros with a 8-3 victory.
Police spokesperson McCoy said the stabbing was “heartbreaking when there’s a lot work being done on this city to revive downtown and produce people back to downtown and to point out all of them that our city has to supply.”
Town of St. Louis has committed over $250 million up to now 4 years in an effort to revitalize the downtown area as a part of its Economic Justice Motion Plan.
“Combined with over $300M committed towards transportation infrastructure upgrades in St. Louis between 2024 and 2027, these investments are growing a regenerative ecosystem designed to slow and reverse town’s population loss,” in line with town’s website.
The web site adds, “Under Mayor [Cara] Spencer’s leadership, the City’s development agencies recognize that reversing generations of public disinvestment is just not just an ethical obligation, but an economic imperative. Our city cannot grow so long as half of it’s left behind.”