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An 81-year-old Ballwin woman is recovering from a knife wound after police say she shot and killed her son. 

Ballwin police say it's not the first time they received a domestic disturbance call to the home of Joanna Walker in the 700 block of Clayworth.  

Just after one this morning, they found her son, 41-year-old Brian Walker, shot twice in the chest. He was taken to an area hospital where he died about an hour later.

 A knife and gun were recovered at the home. Police say the elderly woman suffered a deep knife wound to her hand and is being treated at an area hospital. She told police her son came after her with a knife and she acted in self defense. No word on if any charges have been filed.

 

 

A Ballwin man caught on tape for shooting at cars on Interstate 44 is behind bars.

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The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 59-year-old Sepid Majid Salem told a passenger in his car Sunday that he “had an urge” before he stopped and fired four or five shots on Interstate 44 in Pulaski County near Devil’s Elbow.

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A Springfield TV station reports no one was injured but one of the shots went through a sleeper berth in a semi-trailer truck. 

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Salem is charged with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and property damage.

A witness notified authorities, who arrested Salem in Rolla.  Authorities found the semi at a rest area near Doolittle.  The truck had a camera and recorded the shooting.

The early morning crash that killed a Ballwin woman is being called a tragic accident.

Twenty-four year old Brooke Bahmler was killed when her car was T-boned on Illinois Route 3 at Yellow Brick Road.

Sauget Police Chief Patrick Delaney says Bahmler had just left Lacledes Landing with her sister and a friend when she made a wrong turn and ended up in Illinois. Bahmler was reportedly turning around when the crash occurred about 3:00 a.m. Sunday.

Chief Delaney says toxicology tests will be conducted, but they don't believe alcohol was involved in the accident.

Bahmler's sister and the other passenger in her car were both seriously injured, but are expected to survive. The driver of the other car was treated for minor injuries.

There is talk that an American could be next in line for the papal office now that Pope Benedict the sixteenth is stepping down from his office at the end of the month. He is the first Pope to resign in 600 years. 

Monday morning, Ballwin, Missouri native and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan reflected on the possibility that he could be moving to Rome sometime soon. Dolan says, "Well it's awesome, you're right. I really .. I mean theoretically I've known that since I was made a cardinal last year that that would be one of the awesome responsibilities, but it's not something you think about. I don't have any insider information, but I would presume that his esteem for the office as the successor of Saint Peter and the chief pastor of the church universal ... that esteem is so high that in all humility he simply said, I can't do it anymore."

Cardinal Dolan. along with Cardinal Raymond Burke, the former archbishop of the St. Louis Archdiocese are two of seven Americans in the College of Cardinals who can vote for the next pope .  Dolan says he believes 85-year-old Pope Benedic's health is not the best, "He knows he's getting a little wobbly. When he was elected as successor of St. Peter in 2005, he shrugged and said to his fellow cardinals, boy, I sure don't have the strength and the durability that blessed John Paul the Second had. So he's been well aware of his frailty."

Church insiders say Italian cardinals are more likely to succeed. The pope's resignation sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March.