CHICAGO (CBS) — Two brothers were killed and five other people were injured in a mass shooting at a New Year’s Day house party early Wednesday in Kankakee.
Police said officers responded to reports of gunfire at 1845 Pierson Parkway around 4:05 a.m., and when they arrived they found several people running from a New Year’s party.
Four gunshot victims were found at the scene and taken to local hospitals. Police said three other gunshot victims took themselves to local hospitals.
Two men were later pronounced dead at the hospital: 22-year-old Quaysean T. Isom, of Kankakee, and 20-year-old Trevontae Ellis, of Pembroke Township, according to the Kankakee County coroner’s office.
Kankakee Police Chief Christopher Kidwell said one of the surviving victims was in critical condition. The injuries to the other four people were not life-threatening. The victims range in age from 20 to 33 years old.
The two men who died were brothers. Their mother said she drives from Mississippi to see where her two sons were killed.
Police believe more than 30 bullets were fired into the home and multiple calibers of shell casings were recovered, indicating more than one person fired.
Witnesses said there were at least 50 people in the small house at the time of the shooting.
The suspect was found in the backyard
Several witnesses — who did not want to go on camera — said they heard no argument, only gunshots from multiple gunmen.
“Everyone looked like they were dancing and having fun, and then gunshots rang out. You heard three shots and then you heard 10 more,” said a witness.
A woman said she was holding one of the victims as he died.
Two firearms and multiple shell casings were found at the scene, and police said a 19-year-old suspect was found hiding in the backyard with a gun pointed at him after the shooting. He was taken into custody for questioning, but no charges had been filed as of Wednesday afternoon.
Kidwell said police arrived at the home less than an hour before the shooting in an attempt to break up the shooting after complaints of shots fired in the area. That initial report was deemed unsubstantiated and Kidwell said it may have been the result of someone shooting into the air nearby, but that it did not come from the house.
In a statement on Facebook, Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis said he was “heartbroken about this for our community and the families.”
Curtis also said the shooting may have been avoidable because the party had been going on for several hours before the shooting and “was asked to stop due to the loud noise and disruption to the neighborhood.”
“What’s more disturbing is that most attendees are not cooperating with police or say they didn’t see anything. We have to do better, Kankakee!” Curtis wrote.
Kidwell said he is confident that because so many people were in the home at the time of the shooting, investigators will be cooperative.
“Last year we had three murders and we got cooperation from our community. So we have… I mean, I’m sure we’ll get something with that many people in the house, but sometimes it takes time. ‘I don’t want to come forward right away. “I mean, they’re obviously afraid of retaliation and things like that,” he said.
People stopped by the house all day Wednesday to pick up coats and phones they had left behind in the chaos.
Kankakee police were investigating and asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact them at 815-933-3324 or 815-933-0426.
