DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD
APPROACHING HISTORY The performances of several members of the Eastern football team have been putting them in the record books.
The headpiece to Eastern’s mascot, Billy the Panther, was stolen Sept. 7. A new one has been ordered. Page 3
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Dai ly Eastern News
THE
WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013
VOL. 98 | ISSUE 22
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
crime | student perspec tive
‘Barn Party’ attendee explains incident By Bob Galuski News Editor @DEN_News Out of the nearly two dozen students asked since Sunday’s reported “Barn Party” shooting, only one student who was there has been willing to explain what he saw. Rich Guss, a senior theatre arts major, said 20 minutes after arriving at the warehouse on West State Street, located near the Northwest Business Park, for the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity hosted party, multiple fights broke out and soon after that he heard gunshots. “It was pretty much a brawl,” he said. Guss added there was a security presence at the party, but he did not know whom they were affiliated with. “You knew security was there, you knew they were trying to just calm everybody down,” he said. “It didn’t – at first – seem like too big of a deal. It’s a party, fights happen. But there was quite a large fight that happened.” Because of the amount of people attending the party and the lack of light, Guss said he did not know whom the fight was between or how it started. “There was 1,000 people there, you know. So to pinpoint who started it, you can’t,” he said. “I’m sure somebody knows who it was between. But for the other 800 of us who don’t know, it’s just like we’re caught in the middle.” The amount of people in the warehouse was also cause for one of the side doors to be opened to let those attending “spill out,” Guss said. About five minutes after the side door was opened, he began hearing gunshots. “At least seven,” he said. “Some here, some there.” Guss said after the gunshots, people began dispersing into the
Marquis Green (Left), a 24-year-old resident of Park Forest, Ill. and Kajuan Wright (Right) a 23-year-old resident of Dekalb, Ill. was arrested for resisting and obstructing a peace officer early Sunday. Neither man is a current Eastern student.
2 arrested on charges connected to ‘Barn Party’ K atie Smith | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
“Barn Party” attendee Rich Guss said he estimated the warehouse on 634 W. State Street held around 1,000 people Sunday before several gunshots resulted in a mass evacuation.
street, ditches and under cars. “I ran away, of course, and I lost the two friends that I actually came there with,” Guss said. “You know, chaos.” He also said because of growing up in the South Side of Chicago, he and gunshots have become familiar. “I purposely don’t go home, don’t go back to Chicago because of the violence there,” Guss said. “And I most definitely don’t come here to have to deal with it.” However, despite being surrounded by violence, Guss said he has not been deterred from going anywhere. Shortly after the gunfire, Guss said the first wave of police officers arrived. “It was speedy. They got there in a nice amount of time,” he said. “When they first got there they handled the situation well.” Guss said he was appreciative of
how the first group of officers took care of the partygoers, but the second wave presented him with issues. He said an officer yelled at him as he was trying to leave after the second wave blocked off the street. “I’m not going to say I don’t understand how a person can be upset when something like this happens, especially in their hometown, especially when things like this don’t normally happen. It can be downright maddening,” he said. “For those of us who had nothing to do with it and were having a good time, and just a couple of people decided to ruin it for everybody, we didn’t deserve that.” Guss has been going to Phi Beta Sigma hosted “Barn Parties” since his freshman year at Eastern. He said – until the gunshots – he thought this year’s party was the safest one. “The purpose has never been
to fight for this reason or another,” he said. “It was probably over something idiotic, but it happened.” Before even getting to the party, Guss said he met at the strip mall’s parking lot on Lincoln Avenue to be picked up by the bus. Guss said before anybody was let onto the buses they were patted down to make sure they did not bring any kind of alcohol container with them. The next morning, Guss returned to the parking lot to go to Magic Wok and found the mess that had been created. “I was a little embarrassed. For what, I’m not really sure,” he said. “Maybe because no one took the initiative to at least try and clean up.” Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or rggaluski@eiu.edu.
By Bob Galuski News Editor @DEN_News Two men were arrested on charges of resisting a peace officer in connection with the “Barn Party” shooting Sunday. Marquis Green, 24, of Park Forest, Ill., and Kajuan Wright, 23, of DeKalb, Ill., were arrested Sunday after allegedly deterring attempts by police officers to provide assistance to the injured victims, a press release sent by the Charleston Police Department stated. Neither man is a current student at Eastern. According to the press release sent Monday, police officers were dispatched to a party at 634 W. State Street, near the Northwest Business Park, and located two gunshot wound victims and one assault victim who was unconscious. Officers were hindered from approaching the party location because of an estimated 100 people who were fighting in the street, the press release stated. As officers tried to break up the gathering in the street so anyone injured could receive assistance, Green and Wright were arrested on charges of resisting a peace officer. The Charleston Fire Department transported all injured to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Care Center.
ARREST, page 5
Cit y | regulation
Council to discuss street signs, annex property By Samantha McDaniel Associate News Editor @DEN_News The Charleston City Council will be voting on a resolution for funding regarding a new federal requirement for street signs during its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall. Mayor Larry Rennels said the new requirement says that all street signs have to be made out of a certain reflective material. “It means we have to replace a lot of street signs,” Rennels said. The city received a highway
safety and improvement grant for $102,938 to help with the cost of replacing the signs. The city will have to match the cost by 10 percent. The council will also discuss an ordinance that will expand the city limits to include the property located at 2651 Douglas Drive, which the city purchased at their last meeting. The property is located at an intersection and the brush and trash on the property has made it difficult to see around the corner. “It was not in the city limits, it was a little notch that wasn’t in the
city limits,” Rennels said. “That is one of the reasons we were never able to deal with the trash and stuff that had accumulated on the lawn.” A public hearing will take place before the regular meeting at 6:15 p.m. for community members to come and talk about or ask questions about the annexation. Rennels said members of the city council are not planning a special discussion regarding Sunday’s “Barn Party” shooting, but will be willing to discuss it if brought up during public commentary. The council members will also vote on the purchase of the property
at 1120 Van Buren Avenue. Rennels said the house on the property burned down a couple months ago and the owner of the property did not have insurance or the money to rebuild. The owner, Melody Ann Murphy, is giving the city the house. The city will pay the buyer’s closing cost, about $100, and the taxes for the current year. Murphy will be paying the seller’s closing cost and any bills on the property. Rennels said the city plans to tear down the building and try to sell the property at a later date.
“It’s a lot in the floodplain, so we may have a hard time selling it, but at least we’ll get the property cleaned up,” Rennels said. “It’s a mess and also a safety hazard for kids.” The council will also look at a mutual aid agreement with the Oakland Fire Protection District for ambulance services. The agreement will provide support in situations where more ambulances are needed in both communities. Rennels said this is not a new agreement.
COUNCIL, page 5