1 dead, 3 injured when multiple people fire guns at Park Forest house party
PARK FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- Police in south suburban Park Forest are investigating a mass shooting in which multiple people fired guns during a house party early Friday morning.
As CBS 2's Asal Rezaei reported, four people were shot in the incident, and one of them was killed.
The shots rang out in the middle of the night – while many of the neighbors were asleep. The neighbors said the area is quiet, and almost never sees this kind of gun violence.
The shooting happened inside a unit at the Paro Forest Cooperative IV Area E – in the 100 block of Fir Street off Forest Boulevard. A next-door neighbor said they were scared awake by the gunshots and called 911 around 3:30 a.m.
Police said when they arrived, they found a chaotic scene with multiple people fleeing.
Police learned a fight between multiple people attending a large house party in the unit culminated in multiple people firing guns.
Ladarius Williams, 29, of Chicago, was found dead in the unit after being shot multiple times.
A 19-year-old from Waukegan and a 28-year-old from Chicago were rushed to local hospitals and were transferred to a Chicago trauma center in critical condition, police said. These victims have undergone surgery and remained hospitalized late Friday.
A 22-year-old from Chicago was treated by paramedics at the scene, but did not go to the hospital.
Several cars were also struck by gunfire, police said.
The neighbor said new tenants moved into the unit in December. Neighbors said in the past, things have gotten rowdy inside the apartment at night.
"Normally everyone that lives over here is quiet. They're hardworking people, and they have children," said Keetha Moore, "so this is just scary to know that someone shot up a neighborhood with children all around."
Green evidence markers were placed on a lawn near the parking lot. As police investigated Friday, an entire section of the complex was taped off as part of the crime scene.
Moore said it is frightening "to know that no matter where you are, you're not safe anymore."
"I've been in this town 30 years. I've never seen this kind of trouble come to our town," Moore continued, "and it's just sad. It's heartbreaking, actually, to know somebody died."
Park Forest police detectives and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force responded to the scene, along with the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit. Several guns were recovered at the scene, police said.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Park Forest Police Investigations Division, at (708) 748-1309.
