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Shooting at WIU

Law enforcement from numerous agencies responded to the scene of the shooting. Thompson Hall is on the left.
Rich Egger
Law enforcement from numerous agencies responded to the scene of the shooting. Thompson Hall is on the left.

Police are searching for a Western Illinois University student accused in a shooting in a residence hall Tuesday night in Macomb.

Kavion Poplous
Credit Courtesy WIU
Kavion Poplous

Police said the suspect is Kavion Poplous, 18, a freshman at the university. Police said he is considered armed and dangerous.

The victim was taken to McDonough District Hospital in Macomb, then transferred to another hospital. His condition is unknown.

WIU spokesperson Darcie Shinberger said the shooting happened in a room in Thompson Hall.

“It appears to be a roommate dispute. There were no other students involved,” she said.

Residents of the dorm were evacuated and housed at Western Hall, which usually host events such as graduation ceremonies and basketball games.

UPDATE: Western called off all classes for Wednesday, September 16, including online and in-person classes on both campuses as well as extension classes.

Western is in the fourth week of its fall semester. It is holding a combination of in-person and online classes.

Copyright 2021 Tri States Public Radio. To see more, visit Tri States Public Radio.

Rich is the News Director at Tri States Public Radio. Rich grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago but now calls Macomb home. Rich has a B.A in Communication Studies with an Emphasis on Radio, TV, and Film from Northern Illinois University. Rich came to love radio in high school where he developed his “news nerdiness” as he calls it. Rich’s high school had a radio station called WFVH, which he worked at for a couple years. In college, Rich worked at campus station WKDI for three years, spinning tunes and serving at various times as General Manager, Music Director and Operations Manager. Before being hired as Tri States Public Radio’s news director in 1998, Rich worked professionally in news at WRMN-AM/WJKL-FM in Elgin and WJBC-AM in Bloomington. In Rich’s leisure time he loves music, books, cross-country skiing, rooting for the Cubs and Blackhawks, and baking sugar frosted chocolate bombs. His future plans include “getting some tacos.”