u of i

Man wanted in U of I shooting surrenders to police

Sep 30, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A man wanted in connection with last weekend’s fatal shooting near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus turned himself into police Thursday night.

Robbie M. Patton, 18, surrendered to police about 10:15 p.m., according to a statement from the Champaign Police Department. He was ordered held on $5 million bail after he was charged in a warrant with first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.

The charges stem from a Sept. 25 shooting in the 300 block of East Green Street that left 22-year-old Mundelein resident George Korchev dead and several others wounded, police said.

Additional details were not released late Thursday.

5 shot, 1 killed, after argument at Illinois party

Sep 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHAMPAIGN) Authorities say five people were shot, one of them fatally, in two separate overnight shootings within minutes of each other in the eastern Illinois city of Champaign.

Police say in a news release that they believe the two shootings may be related. They say the first apparently stemmed from an argument at an apartment party shortly after midnight. It escalated into a fight outside in which shots were fired, striking four people.

One of the four, George Korchev of Mundelein, was killed. Police say he wasn’t involved in the fight and happened to be walking by when the shots were fired. The other three were taken to a hospital for treatment of what police called non-critical gunshot wounds.

Less than half an hour later, police received a report of another shooting. Officers found a victim, who was taken to a hospital and treated for a non-critical wound.

Police are searching for a suspect or suspects in the shootings and for the driver of a vehicle that struck someone who was running away from the gunfire at the first scene. That person’s injuries were minor.

University of Illinois game time texting system rarely used

Aug 29, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHAMPAIGN) Public records show that the University of Illinois athletic department’s security program for fans to anonymously report incidents at football and basketball games via text isn’t used frequently.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that only 73 texts were sent to the system between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2016. Four of the messages were complaints about the same unruly Illinois fan during a football game against Nebraska last fall, while most of the others were tests of the system or accidentally sent.

Holly Stalcup, the university’s assistant athletic director for event management who oversees the program, says the technology hasn’t really taken off but has been useful in a number of incidents.

She said the technology costs about $2,000 a year.