Three arrested during police search following East St. Louis shooting that injured seven
Three suspects were arrested Friday morning in connection with the shooting of seven people Thursday in East St. Louis, Illinois State Police said.
“At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, three suspects were located in the basement of a partially demolished building in the 600 block of St. Louis Avenue and were taken into custody,” a release states.
No further information was released.
Police had initially reported that six people had been shot Thursday afternoon but are now reporting that it was seven people, including a juvenile.
They were shot Thursday afternoon near Sixth Street and Martin Luther King Drive, according to Illinois State Police.
The victims were taken to area hospitals and their conditions are unknown, state police said.
“Following the shooting, one vehicle was involved in a collision with a MetroLink train at the Martin Luther King Drive MetroLink crossing,” police stated. “Seven victims, including one juvenile victim, sustained gunshot wounds. The six adult victims were transported by ambulance to area hospitals. The juvenile victim was transported to an area hospital by agents from the ISP Public Safety Enforcement Group (PSEG). The conditions of the victims are unknown at this time.”
State police did not release any other information about the 4 p.m. shooting. The agency asked the public to share any information by calling Crimestoppers at 866-371-8477 (TIPS).
It was not immediately clear whether police know a motive for the shooting.
The arrests came after a massive police search by multiple agencies. It is not known how many suspects police believe were involved.
Barrage of gunfire outside of East Side Meat Market
The shooting occurred outside the East Side Meat Market at 510 Martin Luther King Drive, according to East St. Louis Police Chief Kendall Perry.
Police worked for hours on the ground and in the air, trying to locate the shooter or shooters.
Illinois State Police said late Thursday night the scene was “still active” and asked reporters to go to the school district office “for their safety.”
Two police helicopters and a plane were flying over the area at 6:15 p.m.
Officers had blocked off Martin Luther King Drive and St. Louis Avenue.
Also, officers were seen investigating the Toyota RAV4 crashed on the MetroLink tracks at the Martin Luther King Drive crossing.
‘The situation is rapidly evolving’
Earlier in the day, Illinois State Police released a statement saying troopers were on the scene at Martin Luther King Drive and North Sixth Street where “multiple victims” were struck.
“The situation is still rapidly evolving,” the statement said. “Additional information will be provided once it becomes available. Please avoid the area.”
MetroLink announced that the system was shut down between the Fifth & Missouri and Emerson Park stations. Bus shuttles were being used to ferry passengers around this section of the tracks.
Roughly 30-40 people gathered on N. 8th Street and St. Louis Avenue Thursday night as police searched for a suspect or suspects in the shootings.
Demarko Mosley, a part of ROWDY (Removing Obstacles with Dynamic Youth), was among the people gathered there. “I have a youth organization here and we’ve been trying to calm some things down, but it’s not calming down,” he said.
Here’s how you can help
East St. Louis Police and Illinois State Police are jointly investigating.
Anyone with any information about this shooting is asked to call Crimestoppers at 866-371-8477 (TIPS), East St. Louis Police at 618-482-6600 or state police at 618-346-3990. The Crimestoppers phone number is an anonymous tip line that pays up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.)
The shootings Thursday followed two shooting deaths earlier in the week in East St. Louis.
A 3-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet as she watched television in an apartment at Roosevelt Homes Sunday and died early Tuesday.
A 16-year-old was shot to death at early Tuesday at Washington Avenue and State Street.
No arrests have been made in either shooting.
Derik Holtmann, DeAsia Paige and Mike Koziatek contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 8:54 AM.