Recovered from the Wayback Machine.
For those outside of St. Louis, we suffered a tragic shooting this week that left one young fireman dead, and two police officers seriously wounded. The event took place in Maplewood, which is just across I44 from where I live.
The fireman was Ryan Hummert, a 22 year old rookie and son of the former mayor of Maplewood, who just started work with the fire department last August. He and others were responding to a reported car fire when the owner of the car started shooting at the fire and police personnel who answered the call for help.
The owner of the house, Mark Knobbe, was a recluse cut off from friends and family, but had never given any indication that he would do an act such as this. After shooting at the police and firefighters, Knobbe set his own home on fire and then killed himself.
Tomorrow, the road outside of the complex where we have our town home will be closed for the funeral procession. I’ll be standing on the side of the road, taking some photos and paying my respects. I’ll post a follow up story tomorrow.
In the meantime, for those in the St. Louis area, the Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team has a page with information on visitation and the funeral procession. In addition, donations in Ryan Hummert’s name can be made to The Backstoppers an organization dedicated to the support of families of fallen police and fire fighting personnel.