'We are all at risk,' says St. Louis mayor as string of fatal child shootings climbs to 9 originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

For the second time since classes resumed at public schools in St. Louis this month, grief counselors will be on hand at an elementary school on Monday to comfort friends of 8-year-old Jurnee Thompson, a third-grader gunned down while standing in front of a restaurant with relatives following a football game.

Since April, nine children under the age of 17 have been killed by gun violence in the city of St. Louis, and authorities say no one has been charged in any of the slayings.

"We are all at risk," a frustrated St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said at a news conference on Saturday. "If you are as outraged as I am ... please help."

PHOTO: Police officers, tape, cruiser. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images) More

Saying the child killings have reached a point of "urgency," Krewson announced a $25,000 CrimeStoppers reward for information leading to an arrest in any of the unsolved cases.

"The message now for these shooters is when you engage in this type of violent behavior, there will be a significant incentive for people to give us information to lead to your arrest," Krewson said.

But Lisa Pisciotta, executive director of St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers, said the reward money will only be available until Sept. 1, and encouraged people with information on any of the case to contact police immediately, adding that all tips will be kept anonymous.

"It expresses the urgency of the situation," Krewson said of the time limit put on the reward.

Less than 24 hours after Krewson announced the reward, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department homicide investigators responded to the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was discovered on the southeast side of the city at 6 a.m. on Sunday with a bullet wound to the head.

Police said no arrests have been made.

The fatal shooting came about 35 hours after Jurnee Thompson was shot in the head and killed on the northeast side of the city after she attended the football jamboree, the city's annual kickoff to the high school football season, police said.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said Jurnee had attended the jamboree at Soldan High School and was waiting for a food order with her two teenage cousins outside a restaurant when gunfire rang out.

Hayden said the mortally wounded little girl, who had just started the third grade at Herzog Elementary School in the city, was taken to St. Louis Children's Hospital, where she died. Her two cousins, both 16, were also wounded in the shooting, as well as a 64-year-old woman.

The chief said the shooting erupted after police were called to the football jamboree to quell several fights that broke out.

He said a contingent of police officers had been in the area for 30 to 45 minutes clearing the crowd when they heard gunfire and found the girl and the three other victims shot.

"Of course the little girl wasn't doing anything wrong," Hayden said. "She was with family when this occurred and shots rang out."

(MORE: 12-year-old boy inside his own home killed by stray bullet to the head)

St. Louis Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said counselors will be at Herzog Elementary school on Monday to provide support for classmates and teacher who knew the girl.

“I don’t know that there are words to explain how difficult it is for the families that are hurting, and the impact this has on the community," Adams told reporters on Saturday.

The girl's death came just 12 days after 7-year-old Xavier Usanga was killed by a stray bullet while playing near his St. Louis home. Xavier was slain a day before he was to start the second grade at Clay Elementary School in St. Louis.

A funeral for Xavier was held on Saturday.

“I miss your smile, your laugh, your hair. I couldn’t believe that you were gone. Why would someone take your life away?” Xavier's 10-year-old sister, Trinity Usanga, told mourners who packed her brother's funeral at a St. Louis Catholic church, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.

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