Two men shot by Washington Park business owner during attempted burglary, police said
Two men were shot by the owner of a Washington Park salvage yard early Tuesday when they tried to burglarize the business, police said. One of the men died.
The dead man was identified as Darnel R. Gully of the 700 block of N. 71st Street in East St. Louis, according to St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr.
Gully was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:53 a.m. in the 1900 block of Kingshighway, Dye said.
Washington Park Police and Illinois State Police are jointly investigating, Washington Park Police Chief Allen Bonds said.
“We are in the early stages of a police investigation,” Bonds said.
Here’s what police have learned so far:
“Sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., two men hopped the fence of a salvage yard in the 1800 block of Kingshighway,” Bonds said. “The owner was at the business and started shooting when the men hopped over his fence. He struck both of them, but didn’t know he did.
“Both suspects ran and hopped over the fence to get out. One ran one way and the other fell the other way,” Bonds said.
One of the suspects fell from a bullet wound and died. The other suspect was shot in the leg. He went to a hospital for treatment and returned to the scene to look for his friend, Bonds said.
Bonds said the owner of the business called police at the time of the burglary.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Two men shot by Washington Park business owner during attempted burglary, police said."
