Jo-Mark Jamar Willis

A man died after police said he pointed what looked like a gun at officers who returned fire, authorities said. Maj. Janice Bockstruck said the two officers were patrolling just before 10 a.m. in the 3600 block of South Grand Boulevard, just south of Gravois Avenue in the Gravois Park neighborhood. Multiple people had reported drug activity in the area, and the officers stopped because they noticed two men on the sidewalk acting “suspicious,” Bockstruck said. As one of the officers got out of the passenger side of a police SUV to investigate, one of the men pulled out what looked like a gun. The two officers opened fire, Bockstruck said. Police later identified the man as Jo-Mark Jamar Willis, 27. Police later released a photo of the weapon on social media and said it was a CO2-powered air pistol designed to look like a handgun. The man ran away, through a gated area at the side of a building at 3654 S. Grand, off of Winnebago Street. One of the officers followed. As the man moved toward the back of the building, the officer again opened fire. The man was still armed, Bockstruck said. The man was shot multiple times and died at the scene. The second man who was on the sidewalk alongside the man with the air gun ran immediately when the officers pulled up, Bockstruck said. Police were not injured, said spokesman Mitch McCoy. “We are thankful that our officers are going home tonight,” he said. Immediately after the shooting, police closed off South Grand from Gravois to Winnebago. A steady stream of passersby flowed along the west side of the street, visiting the nearby beauty shop, payday lender, diner or chicken-and-fish restaurant. Some stopped to see what happened; others lamented the violence in the area. On that three-block stretch of South Grand, police have fielded three reports of assaults in the last four weeks, according to the department’s online crime map. A little over two hours after the shooting, a van arrived and took the man’s body away. Police said he is between 20 and 28 years old but did not immediately release his name.