Names of suspects, charges announced in the shootings of seven people in East St. Louis
Three men have been charged with shooting seven people Thursday in East St. Louis, the Illinois State Police announced Friday night.
Lorenzo W. Bruce Jr., 32, of Madison; Cartez R. Beard, 30, of Cahokia Heights; and Deangelo M. Higgs, 35, of East St. Louis, were each charged with seven counts of aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm and one count of felon in possession of a weapon, state police said in a release. The charges were issued by the St. Clair County state’s attorney’s office.
The shootings happened around 4 p.m. Thursday near Martin Luther King Drive and Sixth Street in East St. Louis. Seven people, including a 3-year-old boy, were struck by gunfire.
The current conditions of the adults were not released, but the little boy is reportedly in critical condition.
The state police announcement does not discuss a possible motive, but East St. Louis Police Chief Kendall Perry said earlier in the day before suspects’ names were announced that the shootings appeared to be targeted.
“They were not shooting randomly, they had a target,” he said. “I don’t know what their motive was.
3-year-old boy critically injured in shootings
The state police release says the 3-year-old boy’s guardian took him to the East St. Louis Police Department following the shooting. State police immediately took the boy to a local hospital while performing life-saving measures enroute.
One of the adult gunfire victims, a 25-year-old East St. Louis man, was the driver of a car involved in a collision with a MetroLink train near the shooting scene at Martin Luther King Drive and Sixth Street. He had non-life threatening injuries, the state police release states, and was taken by ambulance to an area hospital.
“While the train was occupied at the time of the collision, there were no passenger injuries reported on the train,” the release states.
The other shooting victims included a 49-year-old Belleville man, a 24-year-old East St. Louis man, a 53-year-old East St. Louis man, a 53-year-old Belleville man and a 38-year-old St. Louis woman. They were taken to hospitals, and their conditions are unknown, state police said.
Details about the search for suspects
After the shootings, people said they saw three men fleeing with weapons.
“Within minutes, a perimeter was established in the area by the East St. Louis Police Department, ISP and multiple local police agencies,” the release states. “ The ISP Tactical Response Team (TRT) responded to the area and searched for the three suspected shooters. In less than an hour, ISP Air Operations, along with a helicopter from Metro Air Support, were in the air assisting the search. Drones from surrounding public safety agencies were also utilized in the search.”
The three suspects were captured at 2:30 a.m. Friday in the basement of a partially demolished building along St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis. The building was in a wooded area, Perry said.
The three were taken into custody without incident. Bond for the three men was set at $950,000 each.
Brendan F. Kelly, director of the Illinois State Police, said in a statement that his agency is committed to serving the East St. Louis community.
“The response to this shooting is an example of the Illinois State Police bringing to bear all resources at its disposal to bring justice to this community,” he said. “PSEG, Patrol, SWAT, Air Ops and all ISP personnel again demonstrated our ongoing commitment to protecting the people of East St. Louis.”
East St. Louis police, the St. Clair County and Madison County sheriff’s departments, the U.S. Marshal Service and numerous other law enforcement agencies were part of the massive response to the shootings.
State police did not release any additional information, including a possible motive in the shootings.
Mayor orders curfew to fight violence
At a press conference Friday afternoon, before the state police announcement of charges and suspects, Perry said investigators found 9mm and assault rifle ammo shells at the scene of the shooting.
Mayor Robert Eastern III announced at the same press conference an overnight, daily curfew would go into effect, effective immediately, in response to gun violence in East St. Louis. All businesses, parks, bars and other public places will close at midnight until further notice. In addition, parks in the city will be closed during weekends.
The mayor said he hoped the curfew would help support his police department’s efforts to deter gun violence.
In addition to the mass shooting on Thursday, a 16-year-old was shot to death on the street Tuesday and a 3-year-old girl watching television in an apartment was struck by a stray bullet that passed through a wall from outside last Sunday. She died Tuesday.
Eastern said police are increasing patrols to try to curb the violence.
He also said the city has a zero-tolerance police toward violent crimes.
“I’m praying and I’m pleading to our young people to stop the gun violence,” Eastern said.
“The persistent violence that is affecting our urban community is shocking,” Eastern said. “Communities like East St. Louis need to be uplifted and we need to do better to address these issues as one unit.”
Reporter Kavahn Mansouri contributed to this story.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 10:48 PM.