Source St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis police officer hit by a car Sunday morning on Interstate 70 died in surgery Sunday afternoon.
The officer was David Lee, an 18-year veteran of the force. Police said they have a suspect in custody.
“Today is a day of heartbreak in the city of St. Louis,” Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said at a news conference Sunday evening.
”We are devastated,” police Chief Robert Tracy said.
Tracy said Lee was called to a one-car crash around 8:30 a.m. Sunday on I-70 near Grand Avenue. The driver in the first crash was an off-duty Ferguson firefighter on her way home.
Lee was behind his patrol car retrieving traffic cones when the driver of another vehicle, traveling east, lost control, spun out and ran into him.
Tracy said the off-duty firefighter rushed to Lee's aid, using Lee's radio to call for help. City paramedics responded and took Lee to SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital, where he died despite doctors' efforts to save his life.
An investigation was still ongoing Sunday evening, and no formal charges had been filed. Tracy said police had detained a 24-year-old man who showed signs of impairment, but he declined to say more. Police said further information could be available Monday.
In the aftermath of the crash, condolences poured in from political leaders and police departments across the region.
“Erin and I send our deepest condolences — and heartfelt appreciation — to the family of Officer David Lee, killed in the line of duty today,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R- Mo., wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“My heart is with the family of Officer David Lee and his fellow officers,” St. Louis Alderwoman Cara Spencer, of Marine Villa, said.
“Officer Lee will never be forgotten,” the St. Louis County Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Lee, 44, had spent four years in the department's traffic division, Tracy said. He had previously worked in the North Patrol Division. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Tonya Lee, Officer Lee’s wife, told the Post-Dispatch her husband was a great man.
“Amazing husband,” she said. “Amazing father. Amazing person.”
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