St. Louis Officer Shot

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- A teenager who went to the hospital for a gunshot wound to the hand and a 22-year-old man have been arrested in the deadly home invasion that killed a nurse and critically wounded an off-duty St. Louis policewoman early today, police said.

Police identified the woman who was shot to death as Gina Stallis, 34. Stallis was a popular registered nurse in the oncology department at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on North Grand Boulevard in St. Louis.

Co-worker John Waldmann, 33, also of St. Louis, said he worked at the medical center with Stallis for the past five years. He said that Stallis has two children.

St. Louis police said that about 1:10 a.m. today, a 27-year-old off-duty police officer was being escorted to her car by her 29-year-old boyfriend as she left a house located in an area that is
just south of downtown St. Louis. The couple were approached by two gunmen, who forced them back inside the home they had just left. Six more people were inside, police said.

The two suspects then announced a robbery. Then, police said, a struggle ensued and the officer was shot at least three times -- twice in the chest and once in the leg. She is listed in critical condition at a local hospital after undergoing surgery this morning.

"The Metropolitan Police Department extends our thoughts and prayers to our officer and all those involved in the incident," according to a police department press release.