After a Sunday night shooting that hospitalized a nine-year-old boy at the River West Apartments on Southwest Phoenix Drive, Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria held a press conference on Tuesday evening.
The Peoria Police Department arrested a 15-year-old teen, who is one of two people suspected of trying to break into a vehicle at River West Apartments. The teen was taken to the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center.
Echevarria detailed the teen’s substantial history of arrests, which in a span of five years, adds up to twenty arrests. Past arrests include possession of a weapon, resisting and obstructing police, motor vehicle theft, criminal trespass and robbery.
The chief addressed the question of what the department is doing to resolve the situation. He notes that all twenty arrests were made by the department, but the teen continues to be released.
An “innocent nine-year-old boy who was just trying to have dinner inside his home” is recovering in the hospital after being shot in the chest on Sunday evening.
Mayor Rita Ali, who was in attendance, expressed gratitude that the victim is in stable condition and that “no major arteries were hit.” She praised the department for their work in this case.
Echevarria added that the department has started to “wrap services” around the nine-year-old boy because “our victims of today could be our suspects of tomorrow.”
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