News Release

Schnucks Gun-Flourisher Sentenced to Prison

On Monday, May 21, 2001, Circuit Judge William L. Syler sentenced Shamir Houston, 18, of Ullin, Illinois, to 10 years in prison on charges arising out of an incident occurring on August 17, 2000, when he flourished a gun at employees and customers at Schnucks in Cape Girardeau, and then tried to kidnap a customer at Long John Silver’s in his attempt to elude police.

Houston pled guilty to offenses of unlawful use of a weapon, attempted kidnapping, stealing, resisting arrest and possession of a defaced firearm.

The incident began on Thursday, August 17, 2001, at 8:03 p.m., when store employees at Schnucks, 19 South Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, caught Houston shoplifting at the store. As he was being detained in the office, he pulled a loaded gun, a 25 caliber QFI brand semi-automatic pistol, and flourished it and ran into the grocery area of the store, waving the gun at store employees and customers.

Houston fled the store with the gun and once on the parking lot, tried to force a couple, at gunpoint, to let him into their car. They refused and slammed the car door, which he had opened.

Houston then spotted a truck in the drive-through lane at Long John Silver’s and ran to it, leaped inside, and pointed his gun at the driver of the truck, saying, "Drive!"

The driver, Christopher D. O’Connell, a 37-year-old construction worker, reacted quickly. As flashing red lights from a responding patrol car caught Houston’s attention, O’Connell punched Houston, disarmed him, and detained him until police arrived minutes later. Patrolmen John H. McDermott and William C. Kincade arrested Houston at gunpoint without further incident.

Police found a black nylon stocking and a pair of Latex gloves in Houston’s right front pants pocket after his arrest. They also discovered that his gun, although loaded, had jammed.

Syler sentenced Houston to 5 years in prison for the unlawful use of weapon count for flourishing a deadly weapon in the presence of one or more persons in an angry manner and to 5 years in prison for the attempted kidnapping of the construction worker, with the two sentences to run consecutively to constitute a 10-year sentence. He also sentenced Houston to 6 months in the county jail for each of the misdemeanor offenses of stealing, resisting arrest and possession of a defaced firearm, with the misdemeanor sentences to run concurrently with the 10-year prison sentence.

"Although resisting an armed criminal with force is not always the best policy," said Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle after the sentencing, "you have to admire Chris O’Connell for the courage he showed in dealing with a scary situation. Shamir Houston picked the wrong person to try to kidnap."

H. Morley Swingle

Date: May 22, 2001