ST. LOUIS — An off-duty cop shot and killed a 20-year-old student who broke into his house on Saturday after arguing with him about Black Lives Matter online.
Tyler Gebhard threw a 50-pound concrete planter through a back window at the unidentified cop’s home when the officer’s wife refused to let him in.
Gebhard was shot twice in the chest after ignoring warnings to “get down”, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, citing police.
Gebhard had bipolar disorder and would sometimes stop taking his medication, his uncle told the Post-Dispatch.
The student, who was a Black Lives Matter supporter, knew the police officer through a church connection. The two men argued about the activist movement on Facebook.
Members of the police officer’s family, including his wife and two young children, hid in an upstairs bedroom when Gebhard came to the house.
Police said Gebhard’s actions gave the off-duty cop little choice but to shoot him.
The officer is a three-year veteran of the force. He was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
