This post provides additional information and links about the latest gun violence updates in Champaign-Urbana. It covers more on the recent Unit 4 shooting and its role in the City of Champaign's Violence Reduction Blueprint (following up from the City of Champaign updates here). There are also various updates on the work of the Community Coalition and general gun violence news, information, and updates
For general gun violence updates, the Champaign County Community Coalition typically has a monthly meeting where the local police chiefs give an update on shooting incidents, arrests, and other information. There wasn't a September meeting, so the most recent updates are available from the August 9th meeting (video here, with the police chiefs updates starting just after the 25 minute mark). The News-Gazette had coverage of the meeting and the sit down with the new Urbana Police Chief Larry Boone. Also:
Parkland College police Chief Troy Daniels highlighted recent active shooter training for the department and said that a main focus going forward would be emergency planning and preparedness.
That full article here. The next Community Coalition meeting is scheduled for October 11th at 3pm. You can get agendas or view previous meeting videos at their website here.
A lot of the recent news on local gun violence has revolved around Unit 4's most recent shooting on a grade school campus and its stated inability to use nearly a half million dollars of the City of Champaign's violence reduction funding over the last year.
An overview of the City of Champaign's Violence Reduction Blueprint is available on their website here. There was a Cheat Sheet post highlighting some aspects, coverage and links here. A more detailed and intricate description of the funding requirements through the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) is available in the original City Council Study Session staff report here. It begins explaining some of the restrictions and requirements that come with the federal funding on page 28. Excerpt:
"Because the City is proposing to use federal ARPA funding for these programs, the City will need to enter into a subrecipient agreement with existing partners and additional agencies identified through the RFP process outlining the rules that must be followed. The City will be responsible for monitoring the subrecipient to ensure compliance. For those areas in which responses to RFPs are not received, City staff may need to implement the outstanding components in-house."
That full report here. The City Council's frustration was pointed out in a previous Cheat Sheet post last week with links to local news coverage as well as some preliminary public response from Superintendent Shelia Boozer:
Boozer said the district’s decision not to use the city funding it was granted access to was based entirely on not having the “proper personnel” in place to execute a multipronged plan that included launching Saturday school in neighborhoods impacted by gun violence and a “Parent Academy/Parent University” aimed at reaching 100-plus parents and families from historically marginalized populations...
“It’s my sincere hope that the outrage and disappointment that some of our community members have aimed at this school district will be properly directed to the root cause of violence that continues to plague our community,” Boozer said. “We’re not the center of it, but we’re trying to do our part.”
That same News-Gazette article also had updates on Unit 4's metal detectors being expanded to middle schools in addition to the two high schools. Excerpt:
The district will implement the same metal detectors that Central and Centennial students, staff and visitors have passed through every morning since January 2022 — Evolv Express’ dual-lane models — at Edison, Franklin and Jefferson middle schools, Unit 4 spokeswoman Stacey Moore confirmed to The News-Gazette on Wednesday.
“A definitive timeline will be shared at a later date,” Moore said.
That full article here. WAND had additional coverage on the Superintendent's response to the City of Champaign City Council criticisms:
She said the district has been using the $32 million of COVID funds to address trauma and violence in their own way.
This includes providing for the lighting project near Garden Hills Academy, and enhancing security cameras throughout all campuses.
"Unit 4 is an educational institution. I just want to remind we are an educational, not a law enforcement agency. Our number one job is to educate the students in our district," said Dr. Boozer.
That full article here.
A lot of the local response to gun violence hopes to address root causes. In that vein, the Champaign County Community Coalition hosted a Black Mental Health & Wellness Conference this past weekend. Illinois Newsroom had coverage here. Excerpt:
About 200 people attended the day-long event. Before the workshops started, guests could learn about resources and programs from representatives at Carle Health, the Unit 4 School District and the Housing Authority of Champaign County.
Participants had the opportunity to attend four out of eight different workshops throughout the day. Workshops informed participants on a myriad of mental-health-related topics, such as how to recognize racialized trauma, understand mental health, manage grief, build a healthy Black community and utilize community resources.
That full article here. The Trauma Resilience Initiative and Karen Simms can be found collaborating throughout local government and organizations to addressing the trauma behind and caused by gun violence in the local community.
The News-Gazette continues to have coverage of firearms entering the black market from area homes and vehicles. Click to enlarge the News-Gazette graphics from those articles:
At the end of 2022 the News-Gazette had an article on similar reports on firearms "lost" or stolen that year. There are also older articles showing this persistent trend of legally purchased or owned firearms entering the black market through loss or other crimes (e.g. this one on Urbana lost firearm reports here).
There was an update on the shooting and related charges of Champaign Police Officer Christopher Oberheim, but also the history of the gun used to kill him. The News-Gazette reported how that gun used in that murder entered the black market from a legal dealer through a straw purchase:
[Ashantae Corruthers] pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Hawley on Thursday to conspiracy to defraud the United States by buying and transferring a gun to Darion Lafayette, the 24-year-old man who shot Officer Oberheim on May 19, 2021, and by conspiring with Mr. Lafayette and co-defendant Regina Lewis, 28, of Normal to cover up that purchase and transfer by falsely reporting to Indianapolis police that the gun had been stolen.
Mr. Lafayette, who was fatally shot by Officer Oberheim’s partner, now-retired Officer Jeff Creel, after he fired at and hit both officers, was not legally able to buy a gun because he was a convicted felon.
He persuaded Lewis, his cousin, who also had a felony conviction, to get Corruthers to buy the gun at an Indianapolis gun store, which she did legally in November 2020.
More at that full article here.
More Gun Violence News:
- The Daily Illini covered the annual Security and Fire Safety Report, including campus crime data.
- C-U Citizen Access had updates on shooting data in both Champaign and Urbana here, with maps, graphs and a lot more information.
- Latest Champaign Police shooting data with a monthly comparison back to 2020 from the 9/15 News-Gazette Meeting Minutes feature.
- The City of Champaign City Council had a Study Session with an update on the Violence Reduction Blueprint. The corresponding staff report also had a plethora of shooting data and maps starting on page of 27 of the PDF file here.
