ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on the case of a St. Louis officer who allegedly died while playing a Russian roulette-style game with a colleague (all times local):
3 p.m.
The St. Louis circuit attorney's criticism of how police investigated a male officer's Russian roulette-style fatal shooting of a female colleague has drawn an angry response from Police Chief John Hayden.
Hayden, speaking at a news conference on Thursday, raised his voice and pounded his fist in responding to a letter from Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Her letter Monday to Hayden and Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards questioned whether police tried to block drug and alcohol testing of two male officers after the shooting.
The male officers were on-duty but for unexplained reasons, they were at one of their apartments in the early hours of Jan. 24. Officer Katlyn Alix, who was off-duty, was there, too.
Prosecutors say Officer Nathaniel Hendren and Alix were playing a deadly game of pointing a gun with one bullet at each other and pulling the trigger when Alix was killed.
Hayden says Gardner's allegations were "unwarranted, certainly untimely and absolutely irresponsible."
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1:45 p.m.
A St. Louis police officer accused of playing a deadly variation of Russian roulette that killed a female colleague is now free on bond, but with stipulations that keep him homebound and without access to firearms.
Officer Nathaniel Hendren is charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Jan. 24 death of Officer Katlyn Alix. Hendren was freed after posting bond Thursday, shortly after a judge agreed to a change that required Hendren to post only $10,000. He was originally held on $50,000 bond.
Charging documents say Hendren and Alix were taking turns pointing a gun loaded with one bullet at each other and pulling the trigger. Twice the gun didn't fire, but the third time, charging documents say, Hendren pulled the trigger and shot Alix.
