On the morning of January 31, 2021, thirty-year-old James Allen Cook reported for his shift as a contracted security guard at the Delmar Loop MetroLink station in St. Louis. A husband and father of two young daughters, Cook had served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps and was working for G4S while studying pre-law at Liberty University. Federal transit rules prohibited him from carrying a firearm on duty; he was equipped with pepper spray and a baton.

Around 10:00 a.m. Cook encountered a man on the platform who had been causing a disturbance. Witnesses say the conversation escalated, the man produced a handgun and fired multiple shots, striking Cook in the face and body. Officers found Cook unconscious; he was taken for medical care and died shortly afterward.

Police used surveillance and witness accounts to identify a suspect. The next day officers arrested thirty-six-year-old Nathaniel Maurice Smith at the Hanley Road MetroLink station and charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Competency issues have delayed the case; in April 2022 a court found Smith mentally unfit to proceed and he was committed for treatment, with the proceedings suspended pending further evaluations into early 2024.

Did anyone see or record activity on the Delmar Loop platform that morning who hasn’t spoken to investigators?