Gunfire at scene of yard sale leaves two dead

FLORISSANT, Mo. -- Relatives and neighbors expressed disbelief after a morning yard sale erupted into a shooting scene, leaving two men dead, a woman critically injured and the suspected teenage gunman wounded when police shot him.

The men killed were John Strasburger, 24, who was holding the garage sale with his mother, and Fletcher Coats, 39, who was a neighbor in a north St. Louis County subdivision, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.

Coats ran Club Rio, a nightclub in East St. Louis, Ill. Strasburger was usually only home on weekends, other area residents said.

St. Louis County Police spokesman Rick Eckhard said police couldn't yet speak to the possible ties between the suspect and those who were shot.

Investigators would not discuss a motive for the shootings, which police said occurred after a teenager was waiting Saturday morning inside Coats' home. Coats struggled with the teen inside the house, then ran out toward the home where the yard sale was underway, police said.

Coats was shot, and fell dead by the driveway, police said.

The gunman then chased Strasburger and his mother and allegedly shot them, police said. Strasburger collapsed in the back yard and died. His mother, whose name was not available, was in critical condition at an area hospital, police said.

Another neighbor said the gunman aimed at him, too, but said the weapon never fired.

"It was like the Wild West," Dan Vaughn told TV station KTVI.

The teen then drove off in Coats' Lincoln Navigator, police said. An officer saw the vehicle parked outside a vacant home and ordered the teen to get out, but the SUV instead backed away.

Jim O'Brien said he looked out his window and saw a policeman aiming a rifle at the car. The Navigator was moving "really reckless, and he almost hit the officer," O'Brien said. "He didn't care what was in his path."

O'Brien heard two shots. One bullet hit the vehicle's back window, and another left a hole near the back license plate.

The driver lost control half a block away, crashed the car and fled as officers chased him.

Police said the suspect's injuries were not life threatening.

Coats' sister nearly collapsed after learning from police that her brother was dead.

"No, God, no, God!" the sister cried as friends tried to comfort her. "Jesus, not like this."