A Chicago man has been sentenced to 28 years in prison connected to a 2025 shooting on Illinois State University's campus.
21-year-old Emir Thomas was convicted of firing at a crowd during a fight outside a sorority event on April 27, 2025, at the Bone Student Center.
Students sheltered in the campus Bowling and Billiards Center during the incident, which locked down the facility for the weekend.
One person, who was not an ISU student, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound. Authorities used security camera footage to seek help identifying Thomas, who was named a person of interest. An arrest warrant was issued four days after the incident. He was arrested in June 2025 in Chicago with the assistance of U.S. Marshals.
Thomas was acquitted of attempted murder during the McLean County trial in May. A jury convicted him of aggravated battery involving a firearm and unlawful possession.
Judge William Yoder's sentence was two years shy of the maximum. Thomas received 25 years for aggravated battery, a Class X felony, and 3 years for unlawful possession. He received credit for the 489 days he's been detained in McLean County jail.
Thomas will additionally serve three years of mandatory supervised release when he gets out of prison. Thomas has filed a motion to have Yoder reconsider the sentence. That hearing is scheduled for Nov. 9.
The Bone Student Center shooting was the second to take place on or very near campus during the 2024-25 school year. Donye Arrington of Chicago is accused of killing a teen from Oak Lawn during a pop-up party near University and Locust streets on Homecoming weekend in 2024. His case has not yet gone to trial. A final pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30.
A third mass shooting in an off-campus student housing neighborhood this March has not yet produced any arrests.
