PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Peoria police have confirmed that five to six people have been shot in South Peoria late Wednesday night.
Of those six, all of which were taken to an area hospital, two are in critical condition, said Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria.
Officers were called to the 2200 block of West Marquette Street just after 9 p.m. That’s in between South Westmoreland Avenue and Madison Park Terrace.
Echevarria, who spoke to the media from the scene shortly after 10 p.m., said there were two different alerts from the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system.
Semone Roth, a spokeswoman for the Peoria Police Department, said shortly after 10:30 p.m. that she didn’t believe anyone was in custody related to the shooting.
A slew of rescue vehicles filled the street. Crime tape was draped across several parts of the intersection and the street. Multiple ambulances raced away from the scene after patients were loaded inside. On scene are the Peoria Police Department, Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, and Illinois State Police.
The chief declined to release any information about the victims including their ages and their genders. He did, however, say it would be a “all hands on deck” approach to finding those responsible.
Terry Burnside of the House of Hope said that he believed all six were teenagers. Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said his office has not yet been called.
Several on social media were reporting the incident. Videos of people gathered on Marquette were posted in many spots.
Gun violence has ravaged Peoria in the past month. In August, shootings have become an almost daily occurrence and there have been five homicides in the city limits or just outside. Of those five, four were due to gunfire.
Wednesday night’s incident is the largest mass shooting in Peoria since July 2020 when 13 people were shot on Peoria’s Riverfront during an informal street party. No one was killed in that incident three years ago although one was paralyzed.
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