One person was killed and another was critically injured in a shooting early Sunday near Illinois State University in Normal, in what police described as a violent end to an unsanctioned “pop-up party” during homecoming weekend.
The shooting happened around 3:30 a.m., near the intersection of University and Locust streets in Normal. That’s near both ISU’s Bone Student Center and Hancock Stadium, where ISU played its homecoming football game hours earlier. Police said they were breaking up a large party at the nearby Circle K gas station when shots rang out.
ISU and Normal Police have declined WGLT's request for an interview about the incident. ISU's police chief and spokesperson both referred WGLT to Normal Police; NPD Chief Steve Petrilli told WGLT late Sunday that he was unavailable for comment and would not be releasing more information about what happened.
The two victims were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. One died, and the other was in critical condition, Normal Police said around 9 a.m. Sunday. They were not identified. ISU Police said Sunday afternoon that "neither victim is affiliated with Illinois State University."
ISU Police said the shooting stemmed from a “‘pop-up party’ of over 1,000 people, not organized or sanctioned by the University, started in a park and moved to a gas station.”
Indeed, images and video circulating on TikTok and the anonymous social platform Yik Yak showed hundreds of people congregating at the Circle K gas station in Normal, just to the west of the University and Locust intersection where the shooting took place. It's unclear if the images and video were taken around the time before the shooting, but they were posted around that time.
“ISU Police respects the right of everyone to celebrate,” the police department said on Facebook. “Celebration in the form of large “pop-up parties” on public property without a permit or on the property of non-consenting businesses is unacceptable and damages public and private property, disrupts local businesses and residential neighborhoods, and consumes significant ISU and Town resources. Today, it also resulted in gun violence in our community.”
This video was shared with WGLT early Sunday. WGLT has not been able to pinpoint what time exactly the video was taken. (There is no audio on the video.)
Not the first pop-up party
Police previously raised concerns about these types of pop-up parties in the weeks since college students returned to Bloomington-Normal, as WGLT previously reported.
In late August, Town staff confirmed what were called five “problematic situations” at its parks beginning Aug. 15. Large, disruptive parties were reported at Ironwood, Anderson, Underwood and Maxwell parks.
In those cases, the party hosts had proper town and police permits but had violated town rules by allowing the use of alcohol and drugs. Normal Police, at the time, said the pop-up parties had involved mostly college students and, sometimes, student organizations.
The town's director of communications, Cathy Oloffson, described the events as “pop-up parties” being promoted through personal social media networks. She said an unspecified number of ordinance violations had been issued.
Illinois State University, which provided the initial alerts to the campus community about the Sunday shooting, has not provided any additional information, directing media inquiries to the Normal Police Department. NPD Police Chief Steve Petrilli declined an interview request from WGLT on Sunday evening.
University spokesperson Chris Coplan said it was not clear when or if university administration was going to issue a statement to the campus community or to the media about the incident.
The initial alert which was posted to social media had the location omitted, but an update with the address came moments later.
Jacarleon Smith of Chicago, who plans to begin freshman classes at ISU in the spring, said he’s been to as many as seven pop-up parties in town this semester, including one in north Normal early Saturday that also included gunfire.
Normal Police responded to a report of multiple gunshots in the area of 600 West Raab Road at 2:44 a.m. Saturday, but said there were no injuries to report. Several shell casing were collected from the scene.
“I just felt really sad because I felt that could have been me and my people and we were out running and we were scared,” Smith said of the Saturday morning shooting, but indicated he and several friends left the Sunday morning party before the shooting.
Smith added he still feels safe on campus.
Students concerned
News of the shooting has left several ISU students worried for their safety.
Senior nursing student Dami Oladunjoye said she first became concerned when she drove past the gathering outside the convenience store early Saturday evening when the crowd was starting to grow and there was already a police presence on scene.
“I told my friend I felt like something bad was going to happen because there are a lot of people of campus,” she said. “I just feel like when there’s a lot of people (crowded) somewhere something is bound to happen.”
Freshman history-social sciences teacher education major Andrew Franson said he saw the emergency alerts while trying to fall asleep in his dorm at Watterson Towers.
“I feel terrified, unsafe to be walking about. To be honest, it took me a lot to even leave my room today because, to think we could get shot,” he said.
Franson, a native from the Chicago suburb of Mokena, said he expected the ISU campus to be safe when he moved here. After hear about these pop-up parties throughout the semester and the most recent incident of gun violence, he said the community needs to have a conversation about gun control.
“We gotta organize a campaign to say we shouldn’t be having to fear walking around our campus or going to our classes, even if they weren’t supposed to be there as a pop-up party. We shouldn’t have to fear going to parties,” Franson said.
Oladunjoye said she no longer plans to go out at night. She said fears for her safety are also fueled by what she described as “racist comments” online in response to news of the shooting. A number of videos and images shared online about the incident indicate many of the party participants were Black.
“The Black community, we’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said. “I don’t feel safe. I’m pretty sure other Black people don’t feel safe.”
Normal Town Council member response
Normal Town Council member Andy Byars said the incident caused ISU’s homecoming to trend on social media “for all the wrong reasons.”
Byars said these parties largely involve people who don’t live in the community or attend ISU.
He said if the community doesn’t take steps from preventing these kinds of large “dangerous” gatherings in the future, “ISU homecoming will become an annual field trip for individuals to travel here and cause chaos.”
Police remained on scene through Sunday morning. Evidence markers were visible on a sidewalk near the University and Locust intersection.
Normal Police are investigating. Anyone with information about Sunday's shooting is asked to contact Normal Police at 309-454-9535. Tips may also be made anonymously by texting 847411, type in NORMALPD and then your tip.
WGLT tracks known shootings and shots-fired incidents on an interactive map:
This story will be updated.
Student reporter Paul Aguilar contributed to this story.
