Tracy E. Hayes

A St. Charles County police officer shot and killed a man who authorities say pulled a gun after running from officers early Monday. Tracy E. Hayes was shot about 12:30 a.m. on Siedentop Road, north of Technology Drive West, in the Weldon Spring area. Hayes, 40, lived in the Harvester area of St. Charles County. The scene was less than a half-mile from the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Troop C headquarters, near Highway 94 and Highway 40 (Interstate 64). Cpl. Barry Bayles of the St. Charles County Police Department said two police officers were sitting in police cars in a parking lot, in a largely isolated area, when a car pulled alongside one of the police cars. The car, with two men inside, had just left the lot of a business that was closed and had no night shift. Hayes was in the passenger seat. The driver asked one of the officers for directions, Bayles said, and the officers walked over to talk with the men. A few minutes later, Hayes jumped out of the car and ran off, Bayles said. Officers chased him, while the driver stayed put. Bayles said the officers caught Hayes, but he fought back and pulled a gun. That’s when one officer shot Hayes, Bayles said. Hayes died at a hospital. No officers were hurt. The officer who fired the shot is 23 and has been with the department for two years. The Post-Dispatch has requested video footage from the officers’ dashboard cameras and body cameras. All St. Charles County police officers wear body cameras, and all of the department’s patrol cars are equipped with cameras. Police wouldn’t release them Monday. Bayles said the county prosecutor could decide if those videos are released to the Post-Dispatch once the police investigation is completed. Bayles said it wasn’t clear why Hayes ran. Hayes has a lengthy criminal history and was cited in February for violating terms of his probation in a 2021 weapons case in Lincoln County. Charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, Hayes pleaded guilty in Lincoln County in December 2021, and Judge Milan Berry sentenced him to four years in prison. Berry, however, suspended imposition of the sentence and put Hayes on five years’ probation instead, according to online court records. A probation violation was listed in court papers about two months ago, but no hearing was held on that. Having a gun Monday, as police allege, would have been another violation. His previous convictions included receiving stolen property in 2006 and theft in 2012 in St. Charles County. He also had convictions in Montgomery County for drug distribution in 2012 and unlawful use of a weapon and property damage in 2013. Hayes lived in the 3200 block of Brightwood Drive. His relatives could not be reached for comment Monday. His attorney in the weapons case, Matt Weber, did not immediately reply to a message. Bayles initially described the incident Monday as a traffic stop based on a dispatcher’s conversation log, but he later updated the account to explain how the officers were parked and the car approached the officers. The St. Charles County Critical Incident Response Team is handling the investigation.