Park may be renamed after slain officer

AFFTON, Mo. -- Thousands of people have signed a petition pressing to rename a park in Missouri's St. Louis County after a police officer shot and killed earlier this month.

KSDK-TV reported Dawn Oppy and Kathy Bosch launched the idea to rename Clydesdale Park in honor of late St. Louis County police officer Blake Snyder.

Snyder was 33 when he was shot fatally Oct. 6 after answering a disturbance call. A second officer returned fire, injuring the 18-year-old suspect, Trenton Forster.

Forster is charged with first-degree murder.

The county's parks website shows the park first opened in 1976 as Gravois Creek Park and was renamed Clydesdale Park in 1983.

Changing the name in Snyder's honor would require county approval.