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Mo. Paper Axes Journalist Shot on the Beat

Reporter was wounded in '08 Kirkwood city council rampage

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 22, 2009 2:40 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A St. Louis-area reporter shot last year while covering a city council meeting has been laid off from his paper, the Riverfront Times reports. Todd Smith spent days in the hospital last February after taking a bullet in the hand in an attack that left seven dead. “This is the second shooting I know I can survive,” said Smith, 37. “It’s just a tough pill to swallow.”

Since the February 2008 shooting, Smith had been transferred from the metro beat to edit some of the Suburban Journals’ online editions. “I thought I was OK since the Internet and the website are the future, and performance-wise I was doing fine,” he said. “My family is obviously really not happy that I took a bullet for a business. But I guess in these economic times that isn't enough to save you.”

Crime scene tape is removed from around Kirkwood City Hall.
Crime scene tape is removed from around Kirkwood City Hall.   (AP Photo)
Todd Smith.
Todd Smith.   (AP Photo)
Flowers are seen on the stairs leading to Kirkwood City Hall.
Flowers are seen on the stairs leading to Kirkwood City Hall.   (AP Photo)
Police investigate the scene of a shooting Feb. 7, 2008, in Kirkwood, Mo.
Police investigate the scene of a shooting Feb. 7, 2008, in Kirkwood, Mo.   (AP Photo)
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On last year's shooting
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 
layoffs • St. Louis • recession • reporter • editor • Kirkwood, Missouri • gunshot wounds • newspaper industry • Todd Smith

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