On July 30, 2026, a dispute between two contractors in the Tower Grove South neighborhood of St. Louis ended in a fatal shooting. Inside a home on the 3700 block of Juniata Avenue, 42-year-old Alvaro Perez Vargas and a 54-year-old colleague argued; both men drew firearms and exchanged gunfire in the doorway. Officers arrived around 3:50 p.m. and found one man on the porch with a chest wound and Alvaro Perez Vargas inside the house with a gunshot wound. Both were taken to a hospital.

Alvaro Perez Vargas, a resident of Caseyville, Illinois, died of his injuries at the hospital. The 54-year-old survived, was treated, and was released into police custody. Authorities described the encounter as a mutual combat situation and the investigation remained ongoing; no identity, charges, or legal outcomes for the surviving contractor have been reported.

Did anyone in Tower Grove South witness the argument or the shooting on Juniata Avenue that afternoon?