Illinois
2 teens arrested after 5 family members killed in Illinois shooting
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Editor’s note: This article discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence or an abusive relationship, call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) or visit www.thehotline.org. Callers can remain anonymous.
Two teenagers have been taken into custody following a shooting spree targeting a family in southern Illinois that left five people dead and two others wounded, authorities said.
The 15- and 16-year-old suspects were arrested on July 12 at Frank Holten State Park, a recreation area near the city of East St. Louis, according to the Illinois State Police. The suspects were apprehended after state police officers executed a precision immobilization technique, or PIT, maneuver on a vehicle that one of the suspects was driving.
During a brief news conference, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said the shootings unfolded at three locations within a few miles of one another and targeted members of the same family.
“At least seven members of the targeted family were shot at multiple locations in the East St. Louis area, and as of right now, five victims have been confirmed deceased,” Kelly said, adding that the two other victims were seriously injured.
At least one of the suspects is related to the victims, according to Kelly. State police declined to provide further details on the suspects and the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Kelly noted that state police are working with the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office and will seek charges against the suspects. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, and has a population of nearly 18,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The city is located across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis.
Victims slain in shooting spree identified
State police identified the five people killed as Cherie L. May, 49; Devin D. May, 24; Patricia A. May, 74; Quentin L. Thompson, 21; and Shania W. Thompson, 25.
One victim was killed near North 39th Street and Summit Avenue, three were killed at the Samuel Gompers Homes, and another died at Jones Park, according to Kelly.
The two other victims were wounded at Jones Park and survived, Kelly said. They sustained serious injuries and were being treated at a hospital in St. Louis.
“These alleged acts of horrific violence, taking this number of lives, here in this community it’s terrible. It’s evil, but it will not keep this city down,” Kelly said.
Latest domestic-related shooting
The incident in East St. Louis is the latest domestic-related shooting to occur in the United States in recent months.
A man killed four people, including his parents, brother, and his brother’s girlfriend, in a shooting at the family’s home in suburban Detroit before surrendering to police on June 9, authorities said. At the time, police said the suspect had a “contentious relationship” with his parents.
On June 1, a 52-year-old man killed six members of his family in a shooting spree across a small city in eastern Iowa in an apparent domestic dispute, according to local police. The suspect killed himself when confronted by officers, police said.
In May, the Houston Police Department said it was investigating a murder-suicide after four relatives were found fatally shot in their home. Authorities later reported that evidence indicated a 52-year-old man had shot his wife and two children before shooting himself.
A community in northwest Louisiana was rocked by a mass shooting in April that left eight children dead. At the time, the Shreveport Police Department said the suspected gunman killed seven of his own children and injured his wife and another woman.
That same month, authorities said former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, before killing himself while the couple was involved in a “complicated or messy” divorce. Police said the couple’s teenage son and daughter were at the home at the time of the incident but were not harmed.
Domestic violence in the United States
According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, domestic violence is a “public health crisis, and, given the accessibility and availability of guns in America, this violence is often perpetrated with a firearm.”
Researchers have found that almost half of all women murdered in the United States are killed by a current or former intimate partner, the center states on its website. Of those cases, the center said over half involved a firearm.
The center also noted that about 68% of mass shooting cases that occurred from 2014 to 2019 included a perpetrator who either killed family or intimate partners, or had a history of domestic violence.
A 2023 investigation from the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, identified at least 227 family annihilation cases across the United States from 2020 to April 2023, resulting in 754 deaths. The newspaper’s analysis found such killings occurred on average once every five days.
The investigation described family annihilations as among the most extreme forms of domestic violence. It also found that family annihilators killed themselves in 64% of the cases.
Contributing: Mary Claire Molloy, Indianapolis Star