St. Louis Cop, Son of Ex-Prosecutor, Allegedly Shot Gun Into the Air at Elementary School Halloween Event

A St. Louis cop and the son of a former prosecutor is accused of shooting a gun into the air at an elementary school Halloween event on Sunday, allegedly telling the crowd they were “all going to die.”

Matthew McCulloch, 39, allegedly arrived at around 4:30 p.m. at a trunk-or-treat event for Tillman Elementary School in the parking lot of North Kirkwood Middle School. Police said he allegedly approached several people, making death threats.

Eventually, someone reportedly shoved McCulloch after he allegedly threatened them and their wife, causing McCulloch to fall to the ground while surrounded by "hundreds of children, stood up (and) pulled up his shirt to display a handgun and badge," according to a police affidavit. He then allegedly fired shots into the air “approximately a dozen times while shouting that the attendees would die,” according to the statement.

Police said that the event’s attendees began “frantically” running and searching for cover. As reported by the St. Louis-Post Dispatch, families tried to shelter children who had been separated from their parents.

McCulloch was then tackled to the ground by several attendees, who took his gun away from him. No injuries were reported, and McCulloch was taken into custody.

"I was 30 yards from him ... he was just standing there — shooting — with a very welcoming smile on his face, but there was nothing in his eyes. He looked completely deranged,” Corey Schonhorst, a parent who was at the event with his 8-year-old son, told the Webster-Kirkwood Times.

He added, “The guy just stood there and fired five shots up into the air with this really welcoming, strange, overly big smile on his face and a blank stare. He was like a real-life Joker. It was really, really creepy."

McCulloch has been charged with 11 felonies: four counts of child endangerment, five counts of armed criminal action, one count of making a terrorist threat and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.

The St. Louis County Police Department placed McCulloch on unpaid administrative leave on Monday. He had been a member of the department since December 2017, as reported by KMOV.

St. Louis County Police Chief Kenneth Gregory released a statement, “We were disappointed to learn that the actions of one of our officers caused a disturbance in the City of Kirkwood on Sunday. In a profession where we are called to keep the peace, this display of disregard for safety is concerning. We are very grateful that no one was hurt.”

McCulloch's father, Bob McCulloch, was St. Louis County’s elected prosecutor for 28 years before he lost the 2018 election, according to the St. Louis-Post Dispatch. His uncle was appointed this year as the top prosecutor in St. Charles County, and his grandfather had also been a police officer.

McCulloch’s attorney Brian P. Millikan released a statement from the McCulloch family that read, "We are also painfully aware that an incident such as this can and does cause significant emotional trauma to those, especially children and their parents, who witness such an event. Our thoughts and prayers are with those victims."

Tillman Elementary canceled school on Monday, but opened the building until 1 p.m. for kids or family members to talk to counselors or social workers.

School is expected to be back in session on Tuesday.