A warrant has been issued for a suspect in connection with last weekend’s fatal shooting in Champaign’s Campustown neighborhood. 18-year-old Robbie Patton of Champaign is wanted for murder and Aggravated Battery with a Firearm, for firing off shots during a fight outside a Campustown apartment building.
The shots wounded three people and killed a passerby, George Korchev of Mundelein. Champaign has been the site of a number of shootings over the past few years. But this shooting attracted statewide attention for occurring just blocks from the University of Illinois campus.
At a police news conference today, Campus Police Chief Jeff Christensen emphasized efforts to keep the campus safe.
“We truly have a very tight-knit Illinois family. It’s important that we support each other, help each other heal and make it loud and clear that we do not tolerate this kind of violence in our community.”
Champaign Police are taking the lead in investigating the shooting, which was part of an altercation late Saturday night that started in an apartment party, and moved outside to a parking lot. Police think the gunshots may have been in reaction to an incident just minutes earlier, in which a male victim was beaten unconscious.
Around a hundred people were in the parking lot during both incidents, and police are asking eyewitnesses to step forward with information.