Phillip Walters

Residents along Hogan Street were angry after at least one person called 911 to report a barrage of gunfire, then heard nothing from police. Nine hours later, a neighbor found the body of 38-year-old Phillip Walters next to a nearby garage. Police were called back to the area after Walters was found by neighbors near Hogan Street and Cass Avenue. The man, who police believe was in his 30s, had been there “for hours,” a homicide commander said. “Police never came last night,” said the woman who called 911 to report the gunfire. “This is ridiculous. Why didn’t they show up?” The woman declined to give her name, for fear of retaliation. The body was found across the street from her home. St. Louis police said an officer did check on reports of gunfire in the area — known as Mullanphy Square — but it wasn’t until about 90 minutes after the woman called 911. And the woman wouldn’t give dispatchers her exact location or contact information, so the officer left without finding anything, police said. The incident comes after St. Louis had major problems with 911 staffing and response time for years. But both improved in recent months. And in this case, it appears dispatchers properly relayed the call to police. The urgency of the call was lost, however, when it reached the police, according to a timeline provided by a police spokesman. The police force is grappling with staffing woes of its own: The department is budgeted for 1,220 officers, but it had just 877 as of Monday, marking its lowest staffing level on record. Conner Kerrigan, a spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, said in an email to the Post-Dispatch: “It remains a top priority for Mayor Jones and Chief (Robert) Tracy to get more officers on the streets walking the beat.”