On the evening of December 23, 2024, 17-year-old Romel White was shot in the 3600 block of Minnesota Avenue in St. Louis’s Gravois Park neighborhood. Police were called shortly after 7:45 p.m. and found White with a gunshot wound to his chest; he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. White lived on Keokuk Street.

A witness told police that a disagreement at a house on Pennsylvania Avenue had escalated into a planned attack. According to that account, two individuals walked with White toward a nearby store, then lagged behind on the return. One passed a gun to the other; the weapon initially jammed, was cleared, and then a shot struck White. Both fled the scene after the shooting.

What details about the lead-up to the confrontation or the people involved might help explain why Romel White was targeted? If anyone has information about the events or saw activity near Minnesota Avenue on December 23, please come forward.