DANVILLE — The community of Danville is expressing their pain following a weekend of gun violence.
Seven young people, including minor children, were shot over the weekend in Danville. One of the three shooting incidents resulted in a fatality, leaving six injured.
On Saturday, close to 5 p.m., Danville Police officers responded to the second shooting of the weekend in the parking lot of Riverfront Plaza, located 2 E. Main St. Deputy Chief Doug Miller wrote in a release, officers arrived to find a fight “involving gunfire.”
Officers found two people with gunshot wounds. Both individuals were taken to the hospital, where, according to the Vermilion County Coroner, Jane McFadden, 22-year-old Ricky Dandridge Jr. of Danville died.
Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates said on Monday afternoon that Dominick K. Cotton, a 23-year-old of Danville was charged with aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon in the incident.
Miller said on Sunday, “The other person’s condition is not being released at this time.” Yates updated that on Monday, stating the second individual is listed in stable condition.
The first shooting of the weekend took place on Friday, when three students were shot at while walking home from school on Williams Street near the train tracks, according to one of the children’s mothers, Tanya Fields.
In a release, Yates said the after-school shooting occurred around 4:25 p.m. within the 600 block of E. Williams St.
Fields describes it as a typical Friday night with her kids. She said her son, Devon Webb, and two of his friends were walking to their house to play video games.
“They all met after school there to walk to the kids’ house that was with them,” Fields said. “And someone … just shot at the boys three times, two of the three boys got shot in the leg, my son and his friend.
“My kid or the other children don’t even know the people in that house, just random people shooting at kids.”
According to a release from DPD, the report came in through a 911 call.
Yates said he was told the “individual stated they were walking with another person when they heard two gunshots and were struck by gunfire.”
Fields said when she got the call that her son had been shot, her ‘heart sank.’ But, she said she felt better after getting to the hospital and realizing he would be okay.
“Our innocent children are being affected by gun violence even by strangers,” Fields said. “My son said wrong place, wrong time, and said now he’s going to be basically afraid to go anywhere because he thinks it can happen again.”
According to Fields, her son will be okay and she said the other two boys with her son will also be okay, except they are ‘traumatized’ from the situation.
No arrests have been made in the Friday, May 1 shooting, and it remains under active investigation, according to Yates.
The final shooting of the weekend happened on Sunday, around 10:50 a.m. Danville police officers arrived at the 900 block of Lewis Lane after a report of ‘shots fired.’
Community member Caquista Pence says she didn’t see the shooting, but heard it and saw the blood on the sidewalk from a victim in front of her home. She says she has lived in Danville for the past five years.
“I don’t know where it came from,” Pence says about the gunfire. “I just missed it because I came outside to go get my dog, bring him in. Something just told me, bring your dog in. And as soon as that door shut, there were shots, about 15 to 20 shots.”
She talked with the Commercial-News just a few hours after the shooting happened, and said during that time, there were police investigators outside near her home looking for evidence. She added there were bullets found in the concrete near her house and her neighbors
Once there, officers found three teenagers with gunshot wounds. Yates says “an 19-year-old male, [an] 18-year-old male, and a 17-year-old male were transported to a local hospital, where they were listed in stable condition.”
These investigations remain ongoing. If anyone has further information on anyone of these incidents, they should contact the Danville Police Department at 217-431-2250, or Vermilion County Crimestoppers anonymously online at vccrimestoppers.org, using the mobile app. P3TIPS, or by calling 217-446-TIPS (8477).