Victims of double shooting at Belleville apartment complex were connected, police say
A 50-year-old man police originally thought was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of a Sept. 7 shooting at a Belleville apartment complex was actually an acquaintance of the other 26-year-old target.
Capt. Todd Keilbach said Belleville Police were alerted to the shooting at about 12:40 p.m. Monday by a 9-1-1 hangup call from the West Pheasantwood Apartments, near the intersection of Illinois 161 and Royal Heights Road. He said the dispatcher could hear commotion in the background.
Shortly after that call was made, two men arrived at the Memorial Hospital emergency room in critical condition with gunshot wounds. They were transported to St. Louis hospitals where they remain in stable condition, Keilbach said. Police have not released the identity of either victim.
Officers, meanwhile, arrived on the scene to discover evidence of a shooting in the complex parking lot and signs of a force entry to one of the apartments.
Police initially reported that the older of the two victims was hit randomly by gunfire as he walked near Illinois 161, which runs east to west along the north side of the apartment complex. But Keilbach, commander of investigations for Belleville Police, said Thursday that the two men are connected, though he would not say how.
“The 50-year- old male was with the 26-year old at the time of the shooting,” Keilbach said.
Police would not confirm whether either of the men reside at the apartment complex and the motive for the double shooting is unclear.
Anyone with information is asked to call Belleville Police at 618-234-1212.
