WATCH: Shots Ring Out While St. Louis Mayor Gives Press Conference on Combating Gun Violence

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones was holding a press conference regarding the city’s efforts to combat gun violence when shots rang out nearby. Jones spoke with CNN’s Kate Bolduan about the incident and the topic of gun violence.

Bolduan introduced the segment by mentioning an FBI report that gun violence rates were up nearly 30% in 2020 compared to the previous year. St. Louis, MO had the worst homicide numbers the city had seen in 50 years, and the highest in the entire country.

“Take a look at what happened recently when the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, was out in public addressing this issue,” said Bolduan, before introducing a video clip of Jones speaking at the press conference.

The video shows Jones stopping mid-sentence as a shot rings out, followed by three more shots in quick succession.

“Well. Isn’t that wonderful,” said Jones drily as she turned in the direction of the shots before resuming speaking.

Bolduan brought Jones on to discuss what had happened.

“One thing that strikes me, and I know you also noted it, is you do not flinch when those shots rang out so clearly as you’re speaking to cameras,” said Bolduan. “What does that say? I mean, do you as the mayor feel safe in your city?”

“So, yes, I absolutely feel safe in St. Louis, but what it speaks to is a broader desensitization of the environment that I live in, that my son lives in, that many black and brown families live in, in our city because of the proliferation of weapons that, you know, everybody has access to a gun.”

Bolduan noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had made crime worse in many U.S. cities, and there was “no one single solution,” “no one solution for every city, every town, every state,” and asked Jones what she was doing to “turn this around” and “stop this trend.”

Jones replied that the city was investing in community violence intervention programs, and said that they were “encouraged” by the Build Back Better Act, which set aside federal funds for similar initiatives, “but it’s going to take addressing the root causes of crime, and that’s going to take time because we didn’t get to this problem overnight, and we won’t get out of it overnight.”

There was some good news, said Jones. Homicides were down “almost a third from last year,” and using different deployment strategies of their existing police force, with an emphasis on “more community policing” and other violence intervention initiatives meant they were “starting to see some progress.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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