Police Brutality / Individual record
Jorevis Scruggs
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Jorevis Scruggs in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-04-19 in St. Louis, MO. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-413
- Incident date
- April 19, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
- Agency
- St. Louis Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 15
What happened
Jorevis Scruggs, 15, was shot and killed by St. Louis police on April 19, 2016, during a pursuit of a car officers believed had been taken in an armed robbery. Police said Scruggs fled the vehicle and pointed a stolen handgun at an officer in an alley. His family later brought a federal civil-rights lawsuit alleging he was unarmed, running away, and shot in the back by Officer Murphy; a 2019 court order discussed those allegations without establishing them as proven facts. Neighbors also questioned shots entering nearby homes and cars. Community members held a vigil near St. Louis Avenue and Bacon Street, calling for accountability. The official account and family's allegations differ on the central question of whether the teenager presented an immediate threat.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1477
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- other
- Agency IDs (source)
- 134
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset