4 Men Charged in Massacre at St. Louis Store

ST. LOUIS —  Four men, two of them brothers, have been arrested in the slayings of five people and the wounding of two others in a supermarket robbery on Friday, police said Monday.

The arrests came after one of the men contacted authorities over the weekend and gave information that led officers to the others, police Capt. Charles McCrary said.

He said that police were continuing their investigation and that there could be further arrests.

The case was the worst multiple homicide in the St. Louis area since 1980, when four people were shot to death in a cafeteria robbery.

Police said that two men entered the market after closing time, perhaps disguised as janitors. After they took money from a cash register, they herded seven store employees into a corner and ordered them to lie on the floor.

Two Seriously Wounded

Two of the employees escaped by climbing out onto the roof, police said, but most of the victims were shot in the head. Two of those who were shot survived, but were in serious condition.

McCrary said that discrepancies in information given by the man who contacted police on Saturday led to the first arrest.

“During further questioning of the suspect on this subject, he admitted to being in the company of several other men who were responsible for the actual robbery and the homicides,” McCrary said.

He refused to disclose details of the interrogation and would not say why the man had contacted police.

The suspects were identified as Charles Wright, 36; Anthony Benn, 27; Reginald Williams, 23, and his brother, Ricky Williams, 19.

Wright, Benn and Reginald Williams were charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, assault, robbery and burglary. Ricky Williams was charged with second-degree murder, McCrary said.

McCrary would not say which of the four men tipped off the police, or which one is believed to have carried out the killings.

A gun was recovered Sunday, but investigators were not yet certain that it was the murder weapon, McCrary said.