On Dec. 3, 2019, at approximately 6:18 p.m., the Champaign County Street Crimes Task Force served a search warrant in the 1500 block of Garden Hills Drive leading to the arrest of a 16-year-old Champaign male. The juvenile was charged with Unlawful Use of a Weapon after members of the Task Force discovered he was in illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun at his residence.
The juvenile was transported to the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center where he is awaiting future court proceedings.
Police are additionally investigating the juvenile as a person of interest in recent Champaign shooting investigations although no charges have been filed currently. Police will not comment at this time on the specific shooting investigations he remains a person of interest in; however, will comment that he is not presently a person of interest in the Dec. 1, 2019 shooting investigation of the 10-year-old boy who was shot twice in a private residence.
Anyone with information about recent shootings is asked to please to contact police at 217-351-4545. Arrangements may be made for information to be shared privately. If you wish to remain anonymous you may also submit tips to Crime Stoppers by phone at: 217-373-8477 (TIPS); online at 373tips.com; or the “P3 Tips” mobile app.
Champaign Police reminds citizens that information submitted to Crime Stoppers is completely anonymous. Calls are routed to a third-party national call center that receives your information, completes a tips information form, and then passes the information to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Caller ID tracking is not utilized by Crime Stoppers and conversations are not recorded.
Crime Stoppers will pay a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these crimes.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.