PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — An incident at a convenience store on Peoria’s East Bluff appears to have preceded a shooting that sent one man to the hospital Monday afternoon.
Several people told Peoria police officers they saw a large group of people gathered at the Cal-Mart, 3034 N. Wisconsin Ave., just before the shooting occurred at about 3:30 p.m. Officers went to the area after an alert from the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system indicated that six rounds were fired. When they arrived, they found a 20-year-old man lying in the front yard of a house across the street from the store.
That man had been shot in the back or chest area and also in the upper right arm. He was taken to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center for what police described as “serious injuries.” His condition was not immediately known on Tuesday.
According to witnesses, several men were in the parking lot of the store and at some point, shots began to ring out. One woman said she saw the victim run into the yard and collapse. He asked her to get rid of the gun he was carrying, which she did, the report said. The woman later told officers where the weapon was.
Another witness reported to police he saw a black Dodge Charger race away from the area, its driver shooting a handgun out the window. He also said several men outside of the car were also shooting handguns, the report said.
The account of the car was confirmed by surveillance footage from the nearby Von Steuben Middle School.
No arrests have been made, Peoria police said on Tuesday.
