Crime

Police investigating third fatal shooting in four days in East St. Louis

A .45 caliber handgun.
A .45 caliber handgun. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Police are looking for the person who shot and killed a 46-year-old man in East St. Louis Tuesday night.

St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. identified the victim as Thomas K. Dewalt of the 1100 block of St. Bartholomew in Cahokia Heights.

Dewalt was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:30 p.m., Dye said. His body was found in the 600 block of North 74th Street in East St. Louis.

An investigation is being conducted jointly by East St. Louis detectives and the Illinois State Police Public Safety Enforcement Group. Police said there is no more information to be released.

Anyone with information is asked to call East St. Louis police , PSEG at 618-343-5239 or CrimeStoppers at 866-371 TIPS (8477). This is an anonymous tip line that pays up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest

Tuesday’s killing was the third confirmed fatal shooting in East St. Louis in four days.

Christopher R. Grant Jr. was killed in a car outside the Samuel Gompers public housing complex on Saturday. Police are still looking for a motive and suspect. Sunday evening, William L. Bell, 46, was shot and killed while working on his car on North 68th Street, police say.

There were 29 murders in East St. Louis last year, down from 36 in 2020.

This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 10:56 AM.

Carolyn Smith
Belleville News-Democrat
Carolyn P. Smith has worked for the Belleville News-Democrat since 2000 and currently covers breaking news in the metro-east. She graduated from the Journalism School at the University of Missouri at Columbia and says news is in her DNA. Support my work with a digital subscription
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