UDPATED 5:26 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – The identities of the two victims from two separate shootings Thursday morning in South Peoria are now known.
The first shooting occurred just after 9:00 A.M. in the area of Antoinette and Madison Park Terrace. Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood says 23-year-old Billy Chaplin of Peoria was taken to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse.
Chaplin was pronounced dead in the OSF trauma room at 9:43 A.M.
Harwood says emergency personnel responded just after 10:00 A.M. to a house in the area of Helen and George on reports of a male found shot inside it. The male, identified as 19-year-old Damar Watts, was found deceased with apparent gunshot wounds.
Watts was pronounced dead at 10:55 A.M.
Both deaths are being investigated as homicides. Harwood says autopsies will be performed on both Chaplin and Watts Friday.
Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria says both shootings are connected and one arrest has been made…as well as vehicles involved seized.
But the shootings Thursday morning are not connected to a more mass shooting Wednesday evening in the area of Westmoreland and Marquette that injured six.
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UPDATED 4:25 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – Two shootings Thursday morning in South Peoria led to the two deaths, the 18th and 19th homicides of the year in Peoria.
The first occurred in the area of W. Antoinette and Madison Park Terrace just after 9:00 A.M. after police responded to a Shot Spotter alert of 25 rounds.
Officers arrived to find two adult males down. Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria says one died from his injuries, while the other is in stable condition.
While officers were responding to that shooting, another occurred in the area of Helen and George. A 911 call came in at around 10:20 A.M. of a gunshot victim, and found an adult male in the home. He was later pronounced dead.
Officials have not yet released the ages of the two victims.
Echevarria says the two shootings are connected. But he says neither one is connected to a mass shooting occurring in the area of Westmoreland and Marquette Wednesday night, where six people were injured.
Echevarria says one arrest has been made, and vehicles involved have been seized. He says the shootings are not gang-related, but targeted and isolated incidents between groups having conflicts with each other.
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PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria’s 18th homicide of the year has occurred in South Peoria.
After responding to a shooting around 9 a.m. near W. Antoinette and Madison Park Terrace, that sent two men to the hospital, Peoria Police were called to the area of S. Helen and S. George around 10:15 a.m. Thursday on reports of another shooting.
Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria confirms one person was found dead inside a home on S. Helen.
We’ll have more details from Peoria Police as they are made available.
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