We spoke to the woman who caught last night’s shooting on camera

One dead, five injured at UIUC

An incident at UIUC last night left one person dead and four others wounded. The shots were fired around 12:38 a.m. in the 300 block of East Green Street.

According to the Champaign police, the four wounded victims with gunshot wounds, were taken to an area hospital. One victim was pronounced dead.

The Champaign County Coroner identified the victim as 22 year old George Korchev, of Mundelein, Illinois. According to police, an argument broke out near the scene, causing shots to be fired. The victims were not involved in the fight.

The Tab Illinois had the chance to speak with a woman who caught the shots being fired in a Snapchat video.

Kathryn Lawlor, a recent University of Illinois graduate, was here celebrating her 23rd birthday when shots were fired just feet away from her. “It just so happened that I was taking a Snapchat video,” said Kathryn. “People always tell me I have my Snapchat open too much, but this time it was worth it,” she reported.

“After the shots were fired everyone was screaming and yelling. A lot of people thought it was fireworks or a BB gun. But, I’ve heard what gun shots sound like before, and I knew it had to be that,” recalled Kathryn.

Kathryn also told us of the horrors that ensued afterwards.

“My friend saw the car that hit the girl as it was driving away. She fell face flat on the ground and was bleeding very badly.”

Luckily, Kathryn and her friends were able to seek shelter in a strangers apartment at 309 East Green Street.

“We ran into 309 to seek shelter. Strangers were nice enough to let us into their 19th floor apartment. We watched what happened after from there.”

Unfortunately, because Kathryn has already graduated, she did not receive the Illini Alert with the warning about the shooting.

According to Kathryn, police came around five minutes after the shots were fired.

“The police were trying to move masses of people out of the way. Some people were even taken out on stretchers. As we watched from the 19th floor apartment balcony, I counted about 15 police cars” she told The Tab Illinois.

A campus safety noticed issued to students at 10:12am today stated that thirty minutes after the initial shooting, at 1:08am, police received calls of another shooting in the 700 block of South State Street in Champaign.

Police are continuing to investigate the situation and ask anyone with details to contact Champaign County Crime Stoppers at 217-351-4545.

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