Shots fired After ISU Pop-Up Party: One Dead, One Critically Injured

NORMAL, Ill. — Early Sunday morning, a shooting near Illinois State University left one person dead and another critically injured following an unsanctioned “pop-up party” that drew over 1,000 attendees.

The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m. near the intersection of University and Locust streets, just a short distance from ISU campus and Hancock Stadium.
Normal Police were dispersing a large crowd that had gathered near a nearby Circle K gas station when gunshots were fired. Both victims were transported to a local hospital, where one later died from their injuries. Authorities have not yet released the victims’ identities.

The gathering originated as a party in a nearby park before moving to the gas station, where it attracted a large number of students. Although the event was not sanctioned by the university, it quickly spread across social media platforms, with posts and videos showing hundreds of individuals partying at the scene.

Social media posts show attendees dancing on top of cars and filling the streets with loud music and chanting. The crowd spilled out from the Circle K into the Tony’s Tacos parking lot and spread along the sidewalks of W. Willow and W. Locust Streets.

In the days leading up to the weekend, posts had been circulating, predicting a massive turnout for ISU’s homecoming celebrations. Tik Tok posts were made claiming that the “entire Chicago area was going to show up to ISU.”  A similar unsanctioned pop-up party occurred Friday afternoon at the Qik-n-EZ on North Main Street, highlighting a growing trend of unauthorized gatherings during homecoming festivities.

ISU Police released a statement shortly after the incident was handled.

“ISU Police respects the right of everyone to celebrate. Celebration in the form of large ‘pop-up parties’ on public property without a permit or on the property of non-consenting businesses is unacceptable and damages public and private property, disrupts local businesses and residential neighborhoods, and consumes significant ISU and Town resources. Today, it also resulted in gun violence in our community,” said the ISU Police Department. 

This marks the second shooting incident in Normal over the weekend. On Saturday around 2:45 a.m., police responded to reports of gunfire on West Raab Road, where they found multiple shell casings and damage to a business. No injuries were reported in that incident.

Normal Police are urging anyone with information about the shooting to come forward as the investigation continues. As of this morning, crime scene tape and police vehicles remained on-site at the University and Locust intersection, as authorities continue to investigate the details of the fatal event.

For updates on situations like this, Text ISUAlerts to the number 67283 to receive ISU Emergency Alerts from Illinois State University.