Teen Told He Wasn't Old Enough For A Gun Shoots A Man: Charges

ST. LOUIS, MO — Fifteen-year-old Anthony Thompson was at a family get together last summer, prosecutors say, when an older man told him he was too young to carry a gun. Thompson, apparently wanting to prove him wrong, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot the man, 28-year-old Michael Hurt, killing him and injuring a bystander, according to charges filed this week and first reported by the Post-Dispatch.

The shooting took place in the 4700 block of Beacon Avenue, southeast of Walnut Park.

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Thompson, now 16, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. He is currently held on $500,000 cash-only bond. No attorney is listed.

As in every case, charges are merely accusations, not proof of guilt.

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