On July 4, 2023, 35-year-old Peter Cooper of the 2000 block of Monks Hollow Drive in unincorporated north St. Louis County was shot and killed in Jennings while walking with a female companion toward a neighborhood Independence Day barbecue on Jendale Court. A resident of Jendale Court, described as 46-year-old Antonio N. Speed, exited his home in an agitated state and began firing a handgun at the pair. Cooper was struck multiple times and later died of his injuries.

After the initial shooting Speed reportedly retreated into his home, then returned to his front porch waving the weapon and threatening neighbors. When people tried to help the wounded Cooper, Speed fired again, injuring a woman in the arm. A witness fired back with a rifle after Speed retrieved an SKS-style rifle from his residence. Speed then barricaded himself, live-streamed on Facebook identifying himself and apologizing for shooting the woman, and surrendered to police at about 10:45 p.m.

Prosecutors charged Speed with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, and receiving stolen property; he was held on a $2 million cash-only bond. Did anyone in the neighborhood see the moments before the shooting or recognize why the situation escalated?