Neighbors shaken as man dies, toddler injured after being shot in car in Cahokia Heights

CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Ill. (First Alert 4) - Police are investigating after a man died and a baby was injured when they were shot in a car in Cahokia Heights late Wednesday morning.

The incident also has those living nearby on edge, wondering how this could have happened.

“This is the first time anything like this has ever happened on 74th street in this area,” neighbor Lendia Walker exclaimed.

Walker and her husband have lived in this neighborhood for about 50 years.

“This is a quiet area,” she explained.

That’s why hearing about a shooting happening just down the road was so alarming.

“The husband and I were having breakfast at Denny’s this morning for the free Veterans breakfast, and [my neighbor] called me and said there was some shooting going on in the neighborhood,” Walker said. “It really puts you on edge, you know, you have to be careful about your surroundings. This is a quiet area, like I said before something like this has never happened in this area of that nature, so it behooves us to be on guard cause anything can happen.”

Illinois State Police said officers with the Cahokia Heights Police Department were called to an area in the 200 block of North 74th Street at around 10:25 Wednesday morning.

They said they arrived to find an adult man and a toddler shot in a car.

“We don’t know what precipitated this incident or what - all we know is that two victims were found in the car,” Walker stated.

Cahokia Heights Police said the man, who was in his mid-20s, did not survive. The baby was treated and taken to the hospital.

First Alert 4 crews on scene saw a Kia Soul in a drainage ditch on the roadway with several evidence markers placed around it. Neighbors told us they saw police take out a baby’s car seat from the vehicle.

“It is scary,” Walker exclaimed.

Police have not yet revealed any information about how the shooting occurred or information on a potential suspect.

Neighbors just hope to find out more soon.

“We still have to live our daily life - can’t stay in the house, guarded and all that kind of stuff, we must live we must live,” Walker emphasized.

Cahokia Heights Police asks anyone with information about the incident to call 618-825-2681.