Three people were killed and three others seriously injured in shootings Monday afternoon at a north Normal mobile home park. Normal Police say officers shot and killed the gunman.
The incident happened around 3:45 p.m. in the Landings mobile home park off Linden Street north of Interstate 55, police said. Officers responded to an active shooter report and found multiple victims with gunshot wounds. While some officers rendered first aid, others searched for the suspect, said Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner.
Officers located the suspect nearby and “based on their fear of imminent harm to themselves and others, discharged their firearms, striking and killing the suspect,” Normal Police said.
Multiple officers fired their weapons, Bleichner said. The suspect was outside of and in the area of the mobile home park where the five victims were found, said Bleichner.
Three people were killed, including the gunman. No information about the deceased was immediately available.
Three others were also shot, apparently by the gunman. They were taken to Carle BroMenn Medical Center with what police said were serious injuries.
The preliminary investigation indicates there are no other suspects or threats to the public, police said. Nearby residents had earlier been asked to shelter in place and lock their doors.
Bleichner said he believed the suspect used a handgun but was not certain of that in the immediate aftermath. He said at least one of the victims was related to the shooter, but investigators are still working to determine the statuses of those involved and how the incident began. There was no immediate description of the suspect's demeanor, though he remained armed when police confronted him, said Bleichner. The chief also said there was nothing immediately available about a possible motive for the incident.
Given the nature of the case, State Police will investigate. Bleichner said the officers who fired their weapons will go on administrative leave at least until State Police concludes their look at the incident and perhaps longer if the officers need it. Bleichner said the department offers counseling and other resources to officers involved in shootings as a matter of course. Bleichner said his department will run a parallel investigation and will be cognizant of the need to remain separate from the State Police review of the matter.
Bleichner said because of the nature of the case additional details are likely to come from State Police. State Police told WGLT late Monday that the “investigation is in its infancy and no further information available at this time.”
The last officer-involved shooting in Normal was in November 2011. In that incident a man displayed a BB gun that appeared to be a rifle and officers fired and injured the man. The man lived but faced other charges. State Police and prosecutors found that incident to be a justified use of force by police.
Use of force (beyond normal handcuffing) by Normal Police is relatively rare. It happened 52 times in 2020, or in 0.008% of incidents where enforcement action was taken, according to Response to Resistance reports prepared by NPD and obtained by WGLT. From 2016-20, officers displayed their handguns 66 times, including one discharge (in 2018), according to those reports.
This story will be updated.
