A Peoria Police Chief said on Friday that his department was seeing more shootings pointing to specific people, not just random action.
During the Peorian Safety Network meeting, Peoric Police Chief Eric Echevarria said that people who participated in recent shootings had pre -relationships with each other and none of them were just accidental actions of violence.
“These are targeted shootings,” said Echevarria. “They are not accidental. They know each other. They know they are related. It is unknown by shooting an unknown person. They know each other. They target a particular person. They not only drive through the crowd; they shoot at something specifically.”
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Echevarria provided comments after this month’s shooting, which contains October 1st. Shooting that killed 15-year-old in the Peorian basement, and October 6th. Shooting that left a 17-year-old hospital admitted to non-life-threatening injuries.
He said it was difficult to communicate with family members and friends close to these people after violent behavior and what the public often does not see.
“Each of those numbers is people,” said Echevarria. “Each of those people brings 20, 30, 40 officers from our department, who had to see them in the worst situation, whether they lie there, bleeding while we sit there while trying to make compression while we pick a bloody shirt and try to cut the shirt and we try to do something else.
“What the general public does not see is the consequences of death and their long -term consequences. Not just the short -term effects; I now have an officer who leaves for a few weeks just working the table after a critical situation. Why? Why?
The boss said many of his officials might be disappointed with anger, trying to find out why cases of violence occur and how to find a person responsible for him.
“Those who work are officials and defenders, but we show in the middle of the night to support the team,” Echevarria said. “We’re trying to find out what’s going on. We’re informed. I have to plan people above me. Not me that the mayor and the city leader would get a call or text in the middle of the night.
“There are many who are behind each of those numbers or people and try to solve and close. Our officials take it very seriously. There is a lot of anger and rage behind closed door, for example, ‘We need to find it. How did it happen? “It’s not just here.”
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However, even with the disappointment of Echewaria because of targeted shootings, the number of crime remains down from where they were a year ago. According to the SE-NET meeting of the Peorian Police Department, the number of murders decreased by 67% in the first nine plus months of 2025, compared to the same number a year ago.
Miranda Martin, an analyst at the Police Department, repeated the department’s view that they were able to try to reduce violent crimes in Peoria.
“It’s quite big for me,” Martin said. “Our weap violence has fallen compared to last year. I have a slide in a different presentation where you can see the last five years and in 2023 is extremely bad. Whatever we do here, it really works.”
This article initially appeared in the magazine “Star”: Peoria police manager says the city sees the growth of targeted shootings