PEOPLE
Mom of 5 Shot and Killed by Stray Bullet While Buying Slushies for Her Kids: 'Just Senseless'
By Kimberlee Speakman Published on July 3, 2026 01:44PM EDT
A mother of five was shot and killed by a stray bullet outside a gas station in Missouri.
The woman — identified by local outlets as Shakeela Martin, 35 — was killed and another person was injured as a result of a shooting outside a gas station on Tuesday, June 30, KSDK, KTVI and KMOV reported, citing the Ferguson Police Department.
Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle told KTVI that the incident happened after an argument erupted inside the BP gas station at South Florissant and Woodstock roads. The argument moved outside and shots were fired.
“From what we gathered so far, there was an altercation that took place inside the store here,” Doyle told the outlet. “Our female victim was a totally innocent victim in this case.”
A man was also struck by the gunfire and taken to a hospital in critical condition, police told the outlet. It was unclear whether he was involved in the gunfire exchange.
“[The kids were] physically unhurt, but obviously hurt emotionally,” he told KTVI. “You can only imagine what a child would go through watching their mom being murdered in front of them.”
Doyle told the station that officers are still investigating this case and searching for suspects: “We do have some promising leads in this particular case, and our goal is to dedicate all of the resources that we have to this family.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the Ferguson Police Department for comment.
Martin's cousin, Whittley Anderson, told KSDK that the mom leaves behind five children — ages 3, 4, 9, 11 and 15.
"It was just senseless. It's so surreal. How can a woman go to the store, get slushies for her kids and end up dying. These kids now have to live with this until they're old and it will never go away. It will never leave our family," Anderson told the outlet.
Anderson, who organized a verified GoFundMe to help raise money for the care of her cousin's kids, shared that Martin was “preparing to move her family into their new home the very next day” and took her kids to get slushies to “celebrate this exciting new chapter.”
"She was just a light,” Anderson told KSDK. "We just have to pray and ask God for strength. We have to pray for her kids, her mom, everybody.”
