Family targeted in mass shooting that left 5 dead in Illinois, police say

A police officer hangs caution tape at the scene of an overnight mass shooting at a strip mall in Willowbrook, Ill., on June 18, 2023. (Matt Marton / AP Photo)

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Five people were killed in a “targeted mass shooting” against a family in southwestern Illinois, police said.

Two more people were wounded, and two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, were in custody, police said.

The shootings occurred primarily Sunday at three locations in East St. Louis, including a park. East St. Louis, population 17,500, is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. It had 15 homicides in 2025, down from 34 in 2020, records show.

“It’s terrible. It’s evil. But it will not keep this city down,” Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly told reporters Sunday, referring to the shootings. “The progress we have made will not be lost.”

Troopers stopped a vehicle and arrested two teens suspected in the shootings, Kelly said.

A motive remained under investigation, he said. The victims who died were 74 years old, 49, 25, 24 and 21. Kelly did not detail the relationship between the victims but said at least one suspect was connected to the family.

Marcus May told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he lost stepchildren, his mother and a sister — “my whole family in one fell swoop.”

A decision about criminal charges could come by Tuesday, St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric said.

“This feels like something that would happen on ‘The First 48,’ not right across from you,” said Keveon Johnson, referring to the true-crime TV series. He lives in a public housing development where one of the shootings occurred.

City council member Courtney Hoffman said it was not a random act of violence.

“This is not a mass shooting where you have to worry about going to the grocery store and someone opening fire,” Hoffman told KTVI-TV.