ST. LOUIS, MO  (September 23, 2026) — A St. Louis jury found Joshua Bolden, 38, guilty Wednesday of opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle on two Normandy Police Department officers during an attempted traffic stop. The jury found Bolden guilty of two counts of first-degree assault of a special victim and two counts of armed criminal action.

On April 9, 2020, a 46-year-old Normandy Police Department sergeant and a 56-year-old Normandy police officer received information about a red or maroon sedan wanted in connection with a shooting in Maryland Heights. The officers spotted a vehicle matching that description traveling eastbound on Interstate 70 and began following it. When the officers activated their emergency lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop, the driver continued fleeing for several miles before exiting the interstate and stopping in the 1400 block of Adelaide Avenue in the City’s College Hill neighborhood. Bolden got out of the passenger side of the vehicle armed with an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire on the officers. The gunfire struck the front of the patrol vehicle and its windshield, shattering the glass. Flying glass cut the sergeant on the side of his face. Bolden was later arrested hiding under a structure near the scene of the shooting, still in possession of the rifle.

“Using deadly force against law enforcement officers places not only their lives at risk, but also the lives of everyone in the surrounding community,” Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said. “An attack on police officers undermines the very foundation of public safety and will always be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Bolden elected to have the jury recommend his sentence. The jury recommended a sentence ranging from 27 to 54 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for November 6, 2026.

Violent Crime Unit Supervisor Adam Field, Assistant Circuit Attorney Emily K. Price, and Assistant Circuit Attorney Paulina Fuhrmann prosecuted the case.

Bolden’s case number is 2022-CR00907-01.