Five Killed in Targeted East St. Louis Family Shooting; Two Teens in Custody
Five members of the same family were killed and two others wounded in a “targeted mass shooting” across three locations in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. Two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, have been taken into custody, and police say there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly described the attack as a “targeted mass shooting” against a family, calling the violence “terrible” and “evil” but vowing that it “will not keep this city down.” Kelly emphasized that the progress East St. Louis has made in reducing violent crime “will not be lost as a result of these terrible acts.”
The Attack
The shootings unfolded at three separate locations across East St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. Three people were killed at the Samuel Gompers Homes in the 400 block of North 6th Street, one person was fatally shot at the intersection of 39th and Summit streets, and one person was killed and two others wounded at Jones Park, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
Illinois State Police identified the victims as Patricia A. May, 74; Cherie L. May, 49; Devin D. May, 24; Shania W. Thompson, 25; and Quentin L. Thompson, 21. Two additional victims were wounded and transported to a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Suspects
Two teenage suspects were taken into custody at Holten State Park, a recreation area east of the city. Initial reports indicated both were 16 years old, but corrected information from Illinois State Police confirms one suspect is 15 and the other is 16. Authorities stated that at least one of the suspects is related to at least one of the victims.
Formal charges have not yet been filed. The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office will determine the charges, which could include multiple counts of first-degree murder. Police have declined to comment on a possible motive or how the teenagers may have obtained weapons.
A Community’s Hard-Won Progress
The shooting represents a significant setback for East St. Louis, a city of approximately 17,500 residents across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. According to KHMO Radio, the city recorded just 15 homicides in 2025 — a 45-year low, down from 34 homicides in 2020. Non-fatal shootings also fell from 127 in 2020 to 50 in 2025.
This decline was the result of a concerted effort by the Illinois State Police Public Safety Enforcement Group (PSEG), created in 2019, which used targeted enforcement and new technology to reduce gun violence. Director Kelly noted that while quintuple homicides are extremely rare, similar cases have occurred in East St. Louis over the past several decades.
National Context
The East St. Louis killings were at least the 12th mass murder reported in the United States so far in 2026, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive, as reported by The Guardian. At least seven of those fit the definition of a “family annihilation” — a type of crime known since the 1980s where a person kills multiple close family members. A July 2023 Indianapolis Star investigation found that family annihilations occur across the US every five days on average.
As of July 13, there had been more than 240 mass shootings across the US this year, defined as incidents in which four or more victims are wounded or killed.
A Tale of Two Gun Policies
The tragedy also highlights the stark contrast in gun laws between Illinois and its neighbor across the river. Illinois has some of the strictest state-level gun laws in the US, requiring gun buyers to carry a firearm identification card. Missouri, by contrast, does not require permits to buy or carry firearms, has no licensing system, and does not regulate the transfer or storage of private firearms. Missouri also does not criminalize minors possessing handguns, shotguns, or rifles, though it is illegal to sell such firearms to minors without parental consent.
What’s Next
The investigation remains ongoing, with several key questions unanswered: What motivated the attack? What is the exact relationship between the suspects and the victims? How did the teenagers obtain the weapons? And will the suspects be charged as juveniles or adults under Illinois law?
For East St. Louis, the challenge now is to ensure that Sunday’s violence does not derail years of progress. As Director Kelly put it, the community has been through such tragedies before and has shown resilience. The coming weeks will reveal whether this attack was an isolated act of violence or a sign of deeper troubles beneath the city’s declining crime numbers.