Community stunned by shooting of 4 metro-east teens as it awaits answers from police

Washington Park Mayor Leonard Moore said Monday he was numb after he heard about the weekend drive-by shooting that left one teenager dead and three others wounded.

When he learned that the victims were so young, he said, he was breathless. The youngest was Johnny R. McCline, the 13-year-old who was shot to death

“He had not started his life yet,” the mayor said. “Neither did the other children who were wounded. Nothing could have been this serious for someone to take a life.

“The others who were wounded could have been fatalities. I am thankful they weren’t.”

Here’s what we know about the shooting so far:

• The four teenagers were walking together around 45th Street and Bunkum Road in Washington Park when they were struck by gunfire, according to Illinois State Police. The drive-by shooting was reported around 4:35 p.m. Saturday.
• McCline was pronounced dead at the scene, said St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. The three other teens were injured and taken to area hospitals. Their conditions were not immediately available.
• Police have released few other details, including a possible motive. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-TIPS or the Illinois State Police at 618-571-4124.

“We have to let the police do their jobs and find out what led to this. We have to pray the shooter is caught and we have to keep the families and our community in our prayers,” he said.

Moore said gun violence in communities like Washington Park and elsewhere is deeply troubling.

“These kids here were so young. It is very sad. My heart is broken. The citizens of Washington Park are all touched by this tragedy. Our prayers go out to the families of these young victims,” Moore said.

He said it is disturbing to see the number of people who are using firearms.

“We don’t know what the circumstances were here, but no one should die at the hands of a gun from someone in the streets,” Moore said.

The mayor said he doesn’t know the circumstances that led to the shooting.

“We don’t know whether these kids were targeted, if it was a random shooting, or whether they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Moore said. “Nonetheless, this is a very difficult one.

“The kid who died was just 13 years old. He could have been my grandson or my nephew. It is more than sad.”

Washington Park Village Trustee Herron Hill said he was numb at hearing the news of the shooting.

“A baby lost his life. This gun violence has to stop. I am praying for his family and I pray the shooter is caught. His life mattered. He was a person. No one should feel they have the right to take another’s life,” he said.

Sister Julia Huiskamp said she knew McCline from an after-school program at the Roosevelt Homes in East St. Louis. She described him as “engaging, smart and sometimes mischievous.”

She is heartbroken.

“Johnny had been in our after-school program since he was 5 years old. I knew him very well. We are all devastated by this loss,” she said.

“I am so convinced the lack of gun control and the proliferation of guns in our community, and the lack of meaningful gun control is plaguing our community,” she said. “ Congress has to do something to control the proliferation of guns.

“The whole community at the Roosevelt Homes is going to be really, really sad.”

East St. Louis District 189 Superintendent Arthur Culver released a statement and announced that the district’s Crisis Team was activated to support staff and students.

“On behalf of the East St. Louis School District we would like to express condolences to Johnny’s family, teachers, friends and fellow students. We wish the surviving students healing and peace from the physical and emotional scars of this tragedy,” Culver wrote.

This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 4:16 PM.