We. Are. Peoria (Area)

Three people were shot in Peoria not long after the Fourth of July holiday began overnight Tuesday.

According to Peoria Police Spokesperson Amy Dotson, officers were called to the 1000 block of East Kansas at 1:41 a.m. for a ShotSpotter alert indicating multiple rounds fired.

Three victims later arrived at a local hospital via private vehicle with gunshot wounds, although their ages and genders were not confirmed. Their injuries are considered non-life threatening.

There is no suspect information at this time, and the incident is under investigation.

Peoria Police say two juveniles are in the hospital after being stabbed.

Peoria Police Sergeant Amy Dotson says police were called to the intersection of Atlantic and McClure around 10:30 PM Monday night regarding multiple juveniles fighting in the street.

Officers reported a crowd of more than 200 people.

Dotson says multiple commands were given to the crowd to disperse, and pepperballs were deployed in an attempt to stop the continued fighting and to assist in dispersing the unruly crowd.

Officers found a juvenile victim of a stabbing, who was taken to the hospital.

A second juvenile victim with a stab wound arrived at a local hospital by private vehicle.

Dotson says both victims have injuries that are believed to be non-life-threatening.

Peoria Police say a 16-year-old is in custody, and an 18-year-old is in the hospital after a multiple vehicle accident in Peoria Monday afternoon.

Peoria Police Sgt. Amy Dotson says officers were called to the 300 block of Green Street around 1:45 PM Monday regarding a multiple vehicle accident.

Dotson adds a stolen vehicle, occupied by two males, broadsided a semi tractor trailer on Adams near Bryan.

The stolen vehicle then continued speeding until it turned onto Green Street, hit a parked car on the right side of the road, and another on the left.

Dotson says the 16-year-old passenger of the stolen vehicle ran away, but was later taken into custody and taken to the Juvenile Detention Center.

The 18-year-old driver of the stolen vehicle was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

I simply just don't know where to begin with everything going on in the P lately. July 3rd just put a lot into perspective. That July 3rd at Glen Oak park man...

Usually on July 3rd every year, our team monitors our buildings to make sure if people come to our parking lots to watch the fireworks, they do so safely and property is secure. This year, the ask changed. We just wanted to make sure kids were safe period. Even if that meant, inside the park. I hate to even begin to describe the 5 hours at the park, but I feel that we need to be upfront so that we can actually look at REAL solutions.

When we came there to assist, we had Park Police, Park security, Peoria Police, Peoria and the Public Schools Safety Department. We walked around, monitored, spoke with and had laughs with many kiddos there. It started off ok. But as more came (up to 400+ unattended) the mood began to change. We would try to shift and move the crowds, but they would again group up.

The first incident was with several girls. One young girl walked into the crowd with a full winter mask on. We promptly asked her to remove it, which she did. 5 minutes later, she began fighting with 4 to 5 other girls and had to be restrained. A pepperball gun had to be used to even move the crowd. The girls were all cuffed and taken to police vehicles to contact parents. The crowd of children became more animated.

At one point, I heard on the radio about 2 stolen vehicles and several firearms and drugs that were recovered literally within 5 minutes of each other. All from juveniles. And there were more stolen vehicles moving around. It was found that one of the many juveniles in a stolen vehicle, was found in another stolen vehicle earlier in the day. She even laughed about it when caught.

While in the crowds, kids were throwing lit fireworks at other groups. Kids would run, almost causing a stampede. Some fell on concrete while running away. This happened the whole night over and over. Some even tried to throw fireworks at officers. One had to be taken in custody doing so.

Back in the parking lot area, a group of girls began getting loud and we went over to find at least 2 adults trying to intervene. We found that several girls were trying to lure one girl away to jump her. She said it was due to inappropriate pictures being circulated online that she argued with them about. We were able to walk her away and the two adults made sure she got home safely.

With this going on, we had to move the crowds out of the park and out past the street. Another young girl walked past officers like the last one and had a full face mask on. The officers asked her to stop and take off her mask. She stopped, threw her hands up, and yelled "it's fake!" Thankfully, these PPD officers were calm and measured. They went over to her and pulled out a firearm from her waist. We found that that firearm (which looked and felt exactly like my Glock) was a bb gun. This young lady, was 13 years old. I immediately called her parent to let her know that her 13 y.o. child was running the streets with a full mask and a lookalike weapon. She said that she was coming to get her...

With all this still going on, it getting darker and the crowds still agitated, I saw many adults walk by making comments. The adults were saying things like "too many unsupervised kids here, im out of here", "nope, not tonight with these kids", etc. They just left the park with their families.

While still monitoring the groups, thankfully the fireworks started. I was hoping it would calm some of the groups, but not. At one point a juvenile male was stopped by officers and he took off running. He tossed a handgun away in the park before he was caught.

After the fireworks and the kids began leaving in groups, there were multiple issues (as reported by PPD) that happened in the neighborhoods. It was a busy evening as I listened to the radio on the way home...

Just so much here to unpack. But it was what one adult said to me in passing that night that stood out. They said "We let the children take over the city..." That statement shook me.

CCubs wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 7:12 am Author of that story?

AV8R wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 8:18 am @Tazewell i have a friend who lives in West Peoria, has lived there his whole life (he is my age) and for decades has made a party day out of Independence Day. Watch the parade, cookout at the house with friends, kids in the swimming pool, then cap off the night at the park for fireworks. I was at his house for a few beers and a bratwurst this year, and he was telling me they weren’t going to the park this year for the first time. His concerns were pretty much exactly what you cited in your post. He works for the city but not as a first responder, but of course after 30 years with the city he knows a lot of people, and said his concerns were based on what the cops had told him they were expecting. It’s sad. These children, and their parents, desperately need Christ in their lives.

DennisinPeoria wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 2:03 pm @CCubs
Actually, my wife and I considered going to Glen Oak Monday night. I had seen what the amphitheater crowd was like at 6 pm, all doing good, no issues. We would have paid the $5 to park inside the park. But the heat and humidity would have been a little much for my wife with her asthma.

And I had to work the night of the 4th covering Red, White and Boom. So she watched TV fireworks with her mom and sister.