Authorities are asking for the public’s help finding a suspect who shot someone Sunday night inside the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University. They’ve released two photos of someone they call "a person of interest."
The shooting happened around 7:40 p.m. in an entryway on the west side of the Bone, during a registered student organization event at the Bone Student Center, officials said. Authorities have not identified which student group was hosting the event. There were at least two events happening in the Bone on Sunday night, including a sorority event, witnesses told WGLT.
ISU is calling it an isolated incident. Authorities said the shooting happened when a “fight started between two groups of people that ended with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to a non-student. The victim was transported to an area hospital.”
The shooter was still at large as of midday Monday. He was last seen running south from the Bone Student Center, authorities said. He’s described as a slender Black male, approximately 5-foot-10 with black hair, wearing all black clothing. Photos of the "person of interest" were released Monday morning.
ISU Police Chief Aaron Woodruff said they don’t have specific information that leads them to believe security lapses were to blame.
“I think it just happened to be the location where these two groups decided to have their fight," he told WGLT.
Woodruff said the ISU campus community is “not immune” to violence. They review security needs on a case-by-case basis to determine if metal detectors or police presence are needed at certain events, “making an event open and inviting as opposed to going through some kind of TSA-type screening process," he said.
In a statement Monday, ISU President Aondover Tarhule thanked the ISU Police Department and Bone staff “for their quick response last evening in securing the location and assisting those nearby,” as well as assisting police departments.
“I share the sentiments expressed by many in our community, including concern for the victim and their family, as well as shock and anger that such violence occurred on our campus,” Tarhule said.
The Bone will be closed Monday. Individuals needing to retrieve personal items left behind Sunday night may do so Monday until 4:30 p.m. and again Tuesday beginning at 7 a.m., at the Welcome Desk on the first floor of the building. The north entrance near the Visitors Parking Lot will be accessible Monday only for this purpose. The Bone Student Center will reopen Tuesday.
Police are asking those with information to email ISUPolice@ilstu.edu or call 309-438-8631.
This is the second incident of gunfire on this block in the past seven months. Two people were shot — one fatally — during a shooting Sept. 29 near University and Locust streets, right near the Bone Student Center. A Chicago man faces murder charges in that case.
