Police officers heard gunfire and headed to the area with lights and siren on, police said. As they turned onto Miami, Hoskins fired at the patrol car, authorities said. One shot struck the police car, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said. Another shot ricocheted and grazed an officer in the left shin.

The officer who was struck returned fire, but did not hit Hoskins.

The gunman fled, but was identified by others in the neighborhood by name, Dotson said. The chief said officers knew him by his criminal record. They found him a few blocks away and took him into custody about 10 minutes after the shootings. The gun was not recovered.

Sproaps and Partlow were both pronounced dead at the scene. Sproaps' son was taken to a hospital, where he was in critical but stable condition.

Homicide detectives were investigating the crime. Dotson said the department's force investigation unit would not handle the case because the suspect was not struck by the officer's fire. Dotson said the officer who was injured had been with the department for more than four years.