Normal Police Department

McLean County prosecutors said Friday that a 43-year-old Unit 5 junior high school teacher made sexually suggestive remarks to a 13-year-old girl last year. He faces charges of grooming.

Two 17-year-old boys are in custody for their alleged roles in a shooting that left another teen hospitalized. One of the boys has been charged as an adult.

The Normal Police Department has made technology one of its top priorities in 2026. That includes a new video drone that officers can bring to crime and crash scenes.

An 18-year-old man from Bloomington has been released from the hospital following Sunday's shooting near the Illinois State University campus.

The six victims were all hospitalized with undisclosed injuries. The shooting happened in an apartment parking lot in the 700 block of Franklin Avenue around 2:40 a.m. Sunday.

Normal Police said Monday the six victims of Sunday’s early morning shooting near the Illinois State University campus were between the ages of 17 and 19.

Illinois State University's police chief said it took time to verify where the shooting had occurred and to collect other pertinent information. "By the time they sorted it out — the location and what had occurred — that imminency had kind of passed," he said.

Six people — including two juveniles — were shot early Sunday morning in a residential neighborhood in Normal just south of the Illinois State University campus, authorities said. It's one of the few mass shootings in recent Bloomington-Normal history.

According to documents obtained through a public records request, alleged misconduct by Brandon Knapp was the third incident in 18 months requiring Unit 5 intervention.

Eighth grade social studies teacher Brandon Knapp has been placed on paid administrative leave.