A University City police officer and alumnus of Washington University was shot and killed at 10:20 p.m. Friday on the Delmar Loop, at the corner of Leland Avenue and Delmar Boulevard.

Sgt. Michael King, 50, was reported to be sitting in the driver’s seat of his police cruiser when the killer approached the car by foot and fired several times at the officer before running away and climbing into a car.

According to an official press release from the University City Police Department, the suspect is an African-American male with an approximate height of 5’10’’ to 5’11’’ and a medium build. The suspect was wearing a light-colored shirt, dark pants and a multi-colored jacket.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the suspect may have been driving a gray 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass with the Missouri license plate 2AB28J.

Immediately after the shooting, the suspect took off in a vehicle west down Delmar and was pursued by police in a high-speed chase. The police, however, were unable to catch up with the car.

The police department’s press release identified 41-year-old Todd Shepard as a person of interest whom the police believe may have more information pertaining to the investigation.

No connections between the officer and Shepard have been made, and as of Saturday evening, Shepard has been the only person linked to the case.

Several witnesses at the crime scene recall hearing a series of gunshots and seeing King’s body lying outside the car. Another officer in the area heard shots fired and came to the scene.

The handgun used in the shooting has not been recovered.

Washington University Police Department (WUPD) Chief Don Strom confirmed to Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Steve Givens that no University members had any affiliation with the crime. Nonetheless, WUPD personnel arrived at the scene to assist those already present.

“[WUPD] may have just been helping out because a squad car was nearby,” Givens said. “I think it was just one police force helping another.”

WUPD has not released a report on the incident and was unavailable for comment. Despite the fact that the crime occurred in an area where many University students reside, a crime alert was not issued to the University community.

Givens said that alerts are not often issued when the incident occurs off campus.

No plans for a campus memorial service for the University alum have been considered as of now. Givens said that if a memorial service is a possibility, it likely would not be discussed until Monday.

“The University only does a memorial service if that’s something that the family wants to do. If the family has their own church or temple, then we normally wouldn’t do it,” Givens said.

A 1980 graduate of the University, King dedicated his entire career as a police officer to the University City Police Department.

Junior Paul Fuchs, a Greenway resident, said he passed by the crime scene on his way to a party at around 11:15 p.m.

“I definitely feel a lot less secure than I did, especially after there was an armed robbery just two weeks ago,” Fuchs said. “It’s really scary with as much security as there is, that crime still happens, and it seems like there isn’t too much more you can do to prevent crime.”

Senior Aryeh Roskies, who lives in an apartment complex behind the Starbucks at the corner of Leland and Delmar, said he first heard of the murder on Friday night, but did not find out the details until the next day.

“I was shocked. You hear about these things happening, but you don’t expect them to happen to a policeman,” Roskies said. “I was mostly surprised that something like that would happen on a night when a lot of people would [be on the Loop].”

Despite his shock, Roskies said that he does not feel more in danger than he did before.

“When I moved into neighborhood two years ago, I heard about people being robbed at gunpoint nearby, so safety concerns have always been on my mind,” he said.

Roskies, like Fuchs, does not believe that the police can do much more to increase safety in the area.

“In terms of the Loop, I don’t know what else can be done,” Roskies said. “There are already a lot of police on the Loop and around that parking lot [behind Starbucks]. I don’t know what more they can do.”

Persons with information about the case should call the University City Police Department at 314-725-2211 or Crime Stoppers at 866-371-TIPS.

—With additional reporting by Puneet Kollipara