A 26-year-old man was murdered during an apparent robbery Monday night according to Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo. The man was shot around 8:30 p.m.
The white single wide trailer, where neighbors said the murder took place is located in the Arlington Valley Mobile Home Park at 1600 N Willis Drive just off W. 17th Street.
Police spoke to several witnesses and believe that three males had been invited to a residence by the murder victim before they robbed him. Some witnesses were inside the residence when the shots were fired. Neighbors told The Bloomingtonian they heard 6-9 shots fired in rapid succession.
Three men, who are suspects, have not been located, or arrested, according to police.
“Officers immediately began resuscitation efforts and the man was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital by ambulance. However, upon arrival at the hospital, it was determined that the man was deceased,” said Pedigo.
Hours after the shooting yellow tape still surrounded white trailer home as drizzle fell from the sky, and cooler weather made exhaust from police vehicles visible in a film-noirish manner in the damp cool autumn night. Police officers sat in the parked cars guarding the scene, and then finally an evidence technician brought out some items from the trailer to a police vehicle.
Police said officers arrived earlier just after the shooting to find the unresponsive gunshot victim on the porch of the residence. He had a chest wound.
The police tape made a box in front of the trailer, and several others, and some tape also extended behind some trailers on the same said of the street. A few pedestrians came along walking past the trailer at the crime scene. A pickup truck parked facing another vehicle in the street had some work tools in the truck bed and a fading Grateful Dead sticker on the back window.
A man pulled up in a vehicle and asked what had happened. He was just off work after 11 p.m. but yielded to another resident leaving for an overnight job. He described a working-class neighborhood where a few residents have been a problem for others.
A few neighbors discussed the shooting among themselves, and described an earlier scene of mayhem as the street was filled with police vehicles, emergency vehicles, and fire engines. One neighbor said some vehicles had been towed. And that the area in front of the trailer where the shooting had taken place had smelled like marijuana.
A man said, there’s video, it will all come out on social media, suggesting people had filmed the police response on their cell phones. He then pointed down the street where he said another resident had installed a surveillance video camera.
“No further information is available at this time and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Detective Chris Scott at (812)349-3382,” said Pedigo.
