Rioting, looting, and mayhem broke out on the streets of Peoria in the early Monday morning hours.
Peoria Police Chief Loren Marion's tally of the chaos which took place in the overnight hours included 11 arson fires, 23 ShotSpotter alerts, 87 rounds fired, nearly 50 business burglaries, at least two people shot, and a Peoria Police Officer seriously injured in a traffic accident.
"We were prepared, but I honestly didn't think it would be the way it did. We have a good, strong community here. And it really disappointed me in the response that we saw last night with what was taking place here," he said.
The Peoria Fire Department responded to more than 10 vehicle fires and several dumpster fires overnight. There were also several residential and building fires throughout the night.
Peoria Fire Department Battalion Chief Stephen Rada said crews also responded to two shootings and other incidents.
The Tire Kings store at 617 W. Loucks was set on fire by a group of people around 1 a.m. Firefighters got the flames under control in about 10 minutes.
Rick Young co-owns Tire Kings with his cousin.
He said a group of about 40 people hit their business a little after 1 a.m. The group came loaded in four or five cars. They also hit the 3 Way Food Mart and Cooper's Chicken & Pit Stop.
"That's just people now, I guess, just being destructive. Because this wouldn't solve nothing," said Young.
Estimated damage to Tire Kings is $10,000. Most of the damage was to a side of the building that doesn't effect their operations. It's open for business as usual.
James Kosner's JIMAX Group does clean-up work for the city of Peoria. His crews boarded up nearly 40 businesses across the city Monday morning.
“As a business owner myself, I feel for all these businesses that have been affected by the virus and now this – you’re really kicking somebody when they’re down," Kosner said.
Employees were boarding up windows and setting up a barricade in the front of the University Walmart. A store employee said the store was closed Monday and Tuesday. Employees at Target were also boarding up windows Monday morning.
A Peoria K-9 police officer's patrol vehicle was struck at Spring and Jefferson around 2:30 a.m. That officer was not responding to a dispatch call.
The officer was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the other vehicle suffered life-threatening injuries.
When Peoria Zoo Director Yvonne Strode and her staff arrived this morning, they found that the gate into their donkey enclosure was open and the lock had been cut off.
Strode said shortly after that, they found the donkeys standing calmly, quite a ways from that enclosure. So it looks like they walked quite a ways during the night. They seem unharmed.
Strode said they’re watching the two 20 year old donkeys closely because even large amounts of fresh green grass can upset their stomachs.
There was no other damage discovered at the zoo according to Strode. She said the zoo is looking at its video cameras footage now and will continue to investigate and then take the necessary steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Strode added that she will be speaking to the new Chief of Police to the Peoria Park District to discuss further steps.
The violence comes as violence breaks out nationwide in the wake of the death of George Floyd. A Minneapolis police officer was charged with third-degree murder after kneeling on Floyd's neck until he lost consciousness.
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