We have 10 shots fired at Kirkwood Middle. All available units respond. We have eight to nine guys holding the subject down. We're not unsure on any injuries or anybody struck. Do >> you have a location? >> The back parking lot. The back parking lot at this time. >> 367 lot. We have both handle bleeding pretty bad. We have one down. >> Where's the gun at? >> You're good. >> Where's the weapon? >> He's right over there. >> Leave it right there for now. >> Everybody just stay back. Stay back. Right now looks like you're not >> What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? >> Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. >> I got you. I'm with you. Sit. I'm with you. >> Have you guys patted him down? I've secured the weapon. It was taken by one of the witnesses. Stand by for a serial number. >> How's that? You piece of [ __ ] >> There's your cap, [ __ ] >> YOUR WICKED GOD. >> SHUT UP. >> Shut up. >> I should have slammed your head hard. >> Yeah, I bet you can't though. >> You can't kill me. >> You can't. Not possible. >> See you soon. >> Put him in the car. Hey. Hey. Hey. >> I'm complying, dude. >> Put me in the car. >> Put me in the car, please. >> Hey, put me in the car, man. Shut up. >> You don't run the show. Shut your mouth. >> I do, actually. You guys know it. >> One of the shelters was on the ground. I approached him over here when he was shooting. >> So, it's going to have my fingerprints on it. >> Just leave everything sit where it is. Okay. I saw him before he started shooting cuz he looked weird and out of place to me and so I didn't take my eyes off. He started kind of where that wood is and was walking this way and he was slinkering and he didn't have a shirt on and then I saw the gun and then all of a sudden he just he kept walking and then just started shooting all the way up. He got to here and that's when I approached him and asked him what >> doing. So he started shooting as he was walking. >> I saw him I saw him kind of like where that wood is there walking and before he started shooting because he looked really out of place >> cuz he didn't have a shirt on at a kid event. And then the way I don't know he just looked off to me. >> We need we need to follow his instructions now. >> Follow him. I've got this. Thank you all being content. >> Guy down here. I got his info. I asked him to stay. He said apparently he got into it with him. He pushed him. He they pushed each other. He fell down and then when he drew the gun. So the guy over there in the blue shirt with the hat said I got his info. He was directly involved in this. >> I started defend myself, man. >> Dude came at me. >> Car. I'm going to go secure this at my car and get my better eyes on. >> Okay. >> One of the witnesses picked up a shell casing. I see others. >> Yeah, there's I'm waiting for markers to mark them off. >> Okay. >> What's your name? >> Matt. Matthew. Get your hand off me, man. What's your date of birth? >> Okay. >> What's your date of birth? >> What I heard >> today? >> Today's your date of birth. >> What's What's your date of birth? >> On my ID. >> You know when you were born. >> I don't have any weapons on me, man. >> We're going to check. >> Okay. Well, I mean, what am I supposed to do with people attacking me? You know what I mean? Serial number Norah David Edward 53 0 semi-automatic MNP. >> Your subject comes back with a valid class F negative for 989. >> Is this you shell? >> Yes, you need it. >> Cones's out here. >> Yeah, you can just leave it open. Come on. >> Just double up. >> 14 total, I believe. Right. >> And I've got one that uh one of the witnesses picked up. >> 15. >> Get that blood everywhere when I handcuff. >> Oh, just wipe it off real quick. >> You all right? >> No, I'm good. >> P2. >> He's saying it was self-defense. He shot 10 times. So, it's going to be a cluster. But there's a million witnesses. So, >> I go kick that mother. >> Not too bad. Good. How you doing? >> Are you involved at all? >> Yeah. Okay. So, there's this white Mercedes down here. >> Okay. >> We were standing behind there, you know, getting the candy. >> This is just a trunk or treat the situation here. You guys over the tree? >> Yeah. So, I was there with my two kids and my wife and I was talking to the people at Mercedes cuz I know him and the guy came up and got in somebody else's face kind of behind him and didn't nothing happened and he got in my face like literally this close like damn near could have kissed me and I just turned around and pushed him. I said, "Get out of my face. What do you think you're doing?" And he tripped and fell. And then when he got and when he was in my face, he said, "You guys are all going to die." And that's when I pushed him. And then >> he got in your face. He said, "You're all going to die." >> Yeah. You pushed him. >> Yeah. Cuz I could just tell it wasn't something bright. I just pushed him out of my face, you know, and he tripped and fell. And as he got up, I saw the gun in his hand. He pulled it out of his waistband and got it in his hand. And I picked up both my kids as my wife yelling at me, "Why did you do that?" I'm like, "Run." And then we ran. And then I guess some big guy held him down till you guys got here. He shot off about I heard about 8 to 10 shots. >> That's what I've heard. Is that what you're claiming is that you heard eight shots? >> Yeah, eight to 10 shots. >> Okay. >> And they're never fast. Just >> Were you Were you running away at the time of that or were you observing like what was he shooting at? >> So when he started shooting, I was in front of the car and I just saw the gun up. >> So he's shooting into the air. I saw it up and then that's when I we went from the car to the truck and I just ran cuz I wanted to make sure he wasn't pointing at me before I went from >> car to truck cuz there was a gap. >> So possibly shooting in the >> but I mean he just >> they were just you know >> was he in a tussle with somebody? >> No. No, he literally >> he was walking up got somebody then walked up and then he got in my face. Like nobody was enga, nobody talked to him. The only reason I pushed him out of the face cuz he was in my face, >> you know, I never saw the guy. >> What? I'm sorry. I may have missed it. What initially caused him to be angry? >> Oh, that I don't know. >> Like we had literally just We were the third >> third car. Trunk or tree started at 4:30. Exactly. So we were like the third car from the start. >> All right. So you were in a conversation with somebody else. He approaches you >> from behind me into my face >> as if you like you have no relation to him at all. Don't know him. And he >> he seemed to be upset with you for some reason. >> Just not not even with me. I think he just picked me to say whatever he wanted to say to him. You know, he was just just said whatever he wanted to say and I was just kind of taken back at first. I was like, who the like I saw him talk to the one guy and I was like does he know him? And then he came up to me and I was like who the hell is this guy? Why is he in my face? >> Yeah. And that's just my rea. I don't really take kindly to people in my face when you're in my bubble. >> Yeah, for sure. [laughter] Um, so he gets in your face. He tells you you're all going to die. You push him. He falls. When he falls and gets guns, back up, gets the gun. >> Yeah. >> As far as you know, he was shooting into the air. >> Yeah. >> There's a tall guy with glasses in like a I call it like a mechanics one piece suit. It's a green one or tan one. And he's the guy took him out. >> You know, I mean, I didn't push him softly. I can tell you that right now. I pushed him hard enough that if he was going to get back up and come at me, I knew he was coming at me. >> Yep. Outside of that, um, after he started shooting in the air, somebody You know who that guy is? >> No. No. I'd never seen him. >> Was there anybody else involved in this? >> No. >> Outside of the guys that tackled the guy? >> No, I don't believe whoever whoever tackled him. But like nothing. There was no tussle. There was no nothing, you know, like there was nothing leading up to it. >> Okay. >> You know what I mean? Like he just >> very strange. He just walked up, got in one guy's face, you know, cuz I'm always paying attention anyways. Just just have it. And then he got mine and then that's cuz like we just started. >> Okay. And you guys didn't exchange words. He just came up. I was push face. Pushed him. >> No, cuz I was talking to the guy who owns the uh the Mercedes cuz I just did the kitchen so I know, you know, and so >> Okay. Well, I'm I'm glad you guys are all safe. >> Yeah, so am I. >> I'll just have you hang out. >> I'll go way over here. >> I'll either go find you or I'll call you. All right, man. >> All right. >> Have you guys all provided statements? >> Not yet. Anybody who hasn't hasn't provided a statement, just go ahead and find one of us right now and we'll just get your statement, get your ID and get your phone number so we can contact you guys. All right. Start from the beginning. What did you say? >> Yeah. So, white Mercedes. You were just talking with the gentleman. Yeah. He's my contractor. So, he walked up with his kids. >> My wife nurse is here. We were all at the white Mercedes. >> You guys were who he was talking to. >> Matt was talking to us. Yeah. His kids were getting candy from us. Uh, so the the guy with the gun walked up next to Matt and I I thought, you know, the guy looked a little bit unusual, but I thought he knew Matt because he got right in his face right next to him. I didn't hear what he said, but he whispered into Matt's ear. Obviously, something Matt didn't like because he turned around and Matt shoved the guy with the gun. The guy kind of fell back, got back up, and immediately lifted his shirt, grabbed for a gun, and that's when everybody went crazy, and then shot in the air once, took a couple more steps, shot again, and then kept shooting. And then, you know, everybody was everybody was dispersing. >> Okay. So, he didn't say anything. What you what he said to Matt, you didn't hear? >> I did not hear it. >> Okay. And he got into his face or he came up to like his ear. >> He came up Matt was facing the car, right? The guy came from the right side looking aggressive. I thought he knew him >> cuz he got right into Matt's personal space. >> Okay. >> And then Yeah. Matt turned around. I didn't hear it. Shoved him. >> Matt, he said he don't you don't talk like that. Can you bro? Or something like that. >> He said what he said. >> Yep. Matt pushes him. As he's getting up, he gets the gun out. Do you know what he was pointing at? >> Straight up. >> So, all the shots went straight up in here. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I don't have a whole lot to add. Unless you're looking for large numbers. >> I was grabbing just cuz you're standing here. >> Yeah, I am. >> All right. Start from the front. What uh what happened? >> I was further away. Silver Subaru. Uh saw looked like a couple of people pushing each other around. Was odd. Then people started to scatter. Dude in black put a gun up in the air. They assumed it was fake. >> Seemed like a joke. Shot once. Everybody started running. It became really real, really quick. He shot up in the air probably seven, eight times. >> Seven times. Got you. >> And then uh he got tackled by three other dads. One came up from behind him and then he kept yelling that we were all going to die. Other than that, what are we thinking for this type of situation here? Cars are going to be here for a while. Should I send the family home some other way if I can? >> Yeah, they got to process the scene. Any of you guys see the whole incident? >> I gave my name to somebody that I can talk to. >> Okay, you already gave your name. >> I did give my name to somebody else. >> Okay, awesome. What was he shooting? >> Into the air. >> Into the air. You guys all none of them was directed towards anybody. >> Not that I saw. So before the event started, we had to everyone was waiting behind there. I was standing at the table. He was just getting in people's faces and just acting. >> So he's he was doing this earlier. >> Yeah. Yeah. He he was just confronting people and then he started then he started swearing at people and then he just then whatever prompted him to pull out some sort of firearm and start shooting in the air. >> Okay. Do do you know who who he was saying stuff to earlier? >> It was random. He said something to me. Once the events started, he just kind of go started going around into the crowd and there was some moms that came up to our table saying, "Who is this? He's scream. He's like yelling profanities in the crowd." >> So, he was acting manic for a while. >> Yeah, he was acting completely weird. And I mean, and we're talking this is less than 5 minutes total. >> I heard you help subdue him. >> Awesome. Um, anybody else helped you do that? >> There's a group of you. >> As a group of you? >> Yeah. Okay. At the time of being subdued, how did that go about? One person was like in his face initially and then someone I think came behind him and grabbed him and tackled him to the ground. >> Okay. Where did the gun go during all this? >> They were trying to hold the gun down. So they were punch somebody's punching him in the face trying to hold the other guy was holding. >> Okay. So as soon as the shots went off, you guys swarmed in and got them out. All right. Well, thank you guys for that. Everybody's statements basically match up. So that's good. Um if you guys have anything else, just give the department a call. if you want to provide anything further on statements or if you have somebody else that may have saw something just give them obviously tell them to call up and give give them their information more people that have uh statements to provide the better. All right, so I hope you guys have a a safe rest of the day and uh just try to go be with the frame. Okay, thank you. >> The suspect who opened fire was Matthew McCullik, an offduty St. Louis County police officer from Missouri. He fired 12 shots into the air at North Kirkwood Middle School during what his attorneys described as a bipolar manic episode. Matthew is also the son of longtime St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullik, who left the position in 2018, and he is the nephew of current St. Charles County Prosecutor Joe McCullik. [music] Immediately following the incident, Matthew was taken into custody and was quickly fired from the police department where he had been working since 2017. He was initially charged with five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of terroristic threat, and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, totaling [music] 11 felony counts. In January 2025, Matthew took a plea deal, pleading guilty to six counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of making a terroristic threat, [music] and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, totaling eight felony counts. On March 27th, 2025, Judge Ellen Ribbidu sentenced Matthew [music] to 5 years of supervised probation. His probation terms include no contact with victims, random drug testing, mandatory therapy, sobriety, [music] a ban on firearm possession, and regular court check-ins. No prison time included in the sentence has sparked backlash from parents who were present at the scene. Many of them believe Matthew's familial ties to prosecutors could have influenced his sentence. One parent says his job was to protect people and he came from a family that knows the system. The judge who sentenced him has expressed safety concerns if Matthew were to be jailed due to his ties to law enforcement and prosecutors. She also believes Matthew could be more closely monitored under probation, noting that public [music] safety would be maintained through strict oversight. Let us know what you think about the judge's decision in the comments below. >> There's nothing more terrifying than realizing the person sworn to protect can unravel in the middle of an event and fire 12 rounds into the sky and still walk away with a sentence that makes parents wonder if justice has two different settings depending on your last name. Some people think cops are carved out of cinder blocks like nothing shakes us, but reality is much uglier. And this job cuts into you every year until the pain doesn't even show in your face anymore. And cops actually crack and silence long before anyone sees the signs. And a uniform can hide damage until it spills out in front of families who had no way to see it coming. I think mandatory psychological exams should be a yearly appointment because truth be told, they're just as serious as firearm qualifications. You cannot throw officers into trauma for years, ignore the warning signs, and then shrug it off when a manic break nearly turns a children's event into a tragedy. I've seen it in Philly. Cops fall apart quietly because they know the system treats mental health like a liability. So, they hide it right up until the moment it explodes. That's why communities need officers who are grounded, not officers drowning in untreated mental health issues. And the badge doesn't erase bipolar episodes, trauma, or personal demons. It just masks them behind authority. And that mask did slip here. And it shook these people because the danger did come from someone parents would have trusted without hesitation. Because when a cop's mind caves in and no one catches it, the threat isn't a stranger in the dark. Unfortunately, it's the officer family's trusted to stand between them and the danger.