Two 16-year-olds are in custody after five members of the same family were shot and killed in East St. Louis, Illinois — in what police say was a deliberate, targeted attack.
Story Snapshot
- Five family members were killed and two others wounded in a mass shooting in East St. Louis, Illinois.
- Police say the attack was targeted, not random — and two 16-year-old suspects were taken into custody.
- Illinois State Police are leading the investigation into the deadliest shooting the city has seen in recent memory.
- East St. Louis has a murder rate historically far above the national average, though homicides have dropped sharply in recent years.
Five Dead, Two Wounded in Sunday Shooting
Five members of the same family were shot and killed Sunday in East St. Louis, Illinois. Two others from the group were wounded. Illinois State Police took charge of the investigation. East St. Louis Police Chief Kendall Perry told reporters the shooting was not random — it was targeted. Two 16-year-old suspects were taken into custody shortly after the attack.
The shooting stunned even a city long accustomed to gun violence. Losing five people from one family in a single attack is rare by any measure. Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly also addressed the shooting publicly, calling it a targeted mass killing. Investigators have not yet released details about what motivated the attack or how the suspects are connected to the victims.
What We Know About the Suspects
Both suspects are 16 years old. Because they are juveniles, authorities have not released their names. Reports indicate a physical confrontation took place before the shooting. One suspect pulled out a gun and opened fire on the group. The exact sequence of events leading up to the killings is still under investigation. No motive has been officially confirmed.
A separate but related shooting earlier in the same area left seven people injured, including a 3-year-old child. Three suspects were arrested in that case after an hours-long standoff. They were found hiding in the basement of a partially demolished building. It is unclear whether the two incidents are connected, but both fall under the broader Illinois State Police investigation into violence in the area.
A City Fighting to Turn the Corner on Violence
East St. Louis has one of the highest murder rates in the country. From 2000 to 2018, the city recorded 454 homicides within its 14-square-mile border — a murder rate 19 times higher than the national average. That history makes the latest killings both tragic and, to many residents, all too familiar. Families in the city have long lived with the threat of gun violence as a daily reality.
Five people were killed and two others were injured in what Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly described as a targeted mass shooting against one family over the weekend in East St. Louis. https://t.co/kL6Xl8YOY5
— St. Louis Public Radio (@stlpublicradio) July 12, 2026
There is some cause for cautious hope. In 2025, East St. Louis recorded its lowest homicide count in 45 years. Illinois State Police credited a dedicated Public Safety Enforcement Group, created in 2020, with helping drive that progress. Community organizations have also pushed hard to reduce violence from the ground up. But five people dead in a single afternoon is a brutal reminder of how far the city still has to go — and how quickly progress can be overshadowed by tragedy.
Sources:
instagram.com, slmpd.org, facebook.com
