2 teens charged in fatal triple shooting near St. Charles Convention Center

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Two 18-year-olds are facing charges Thursday after a triple shooting killed one person near the St. Charles Convention Center.

St. Charles prosecutors issued charges against Keonta T. Hardin of St. Louis and Gabriel Patterson of St. Charles. Hardin is facing charges of second-degree murder and stealing a firearm. Patterson is facing charges of second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault, five counts of armed criminal action and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.

Authorities say the shooting happened just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. The convention center is located just west of Fifth Street on the south side of I-70. Two people were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. One of them, 19-year-old Terrell Peete, was pronounced dead at 8 p.m.

A St. Charles resident who lives behind the convention center, and asked to only be identified as Sharon, told First Alert 4 her peace has been shattered.

“All of a sudden I heard pow pow pow pow, probably 10 shots,” Sharon explained. “We saw two people running, but didn’t know what was going on, then saw a car. Very scary. I was rattled all last night. it’s just too close too close.”

According to St. Charles police documents, Hardin and Patterson were meeting to exchange a gun outside of the St. Charles Convention Center. According to police, Patterson said he handed Hardin, who was inside a vehicle, the gun they were going to exchange. Patterson told police Hardin then pointed a gun at him, so he began shooting into the vehicle.

Hardin told St. Charles police that since Patterson handed him the gun first, they decided to drive off to try to steal it.

Hardin suffered a gunshot wound to the arm, according to police.

Both Hardin and Patterson are being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond at the St. Charles County jail.

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