One person was injured in a shooting Sunday night during a student organization’s event at the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University, authorities said. Police are still looking for the suspect. 

The shooting happened around 7:40 p.m. during what ISU called a “registered student organization event” at the Bone. An ISU spokesperson would not identify the student group. There were at least two events happening in the Bone on Sunday night, including a sorority event, witnesses told WGLT.

The shots were fired during a fight in the entryway outside of the event, authorities said. The victim’s condition was unknown. They are not an ISU student, the university said. ISU Police are investigating with help from other local agencies.

The suspect was last seen running south from the Bone Student Center, authorities said. He’s described as a slender Black male, approximately 5-foot-10 with black, afro-style hair, wearing all black clothing. 

There is no shelter-in-place order for the campus, and classes will be held on Monday. The Bone Student Center remained closed late Sunday. Employees assigned to work in Bone Student Center should not report to campus for work on Monday unless directed to do so by their supervisor. All events scheduled in the Bone on Monday are canceled. 

ISU’s first emergency alert about a shots-fired report was issued around 7:55 p.m. Sunday.

At around 11:25 p.m., WGLT saw police officers with assault-style rifles and vehicles are blocking all driveway exits to the Lodge on Willow student apartment complex. It was unclear why.

What students and others saw

Maya Serrano, a freshman psychology major from Chicago, said she was working as event staff at the Bone on Sunday when the shooting happened. Serrano said it was a large sorority event, apparently attended by families, supporters and some children. 

“I was in the back, but I still heard them [the gunshot or shots],” Serrano said. 

People began rushing toward the doors. “It was like a flood,” Serrano said. She said she helped event attendees get out of the area. She said she saw one person who hurt their ankle or foot on their way out. 

“It was a tough situation to be in,” Serrano said. “There were just a lot of people running.” 

Senior English major James Friedman from Shelbyville was in the Prairie Room on the Bone’s second floor when he heard the fire alarm go off. 

“We had no idea that it was a shooter at first. So, we took our time getting out,” he said, since they were close to an exit. 

Word spread that there was an active shooter, and Friedman took shelter for about 90 minutes in the back room of the nearby Bowling and Billiard Centers with about 50 others and the door barricaded. 

Also barricaded inside the Bowling and Billiards Center was former ISU student Dan Bazan, who was also in the Prairie Room for a poetry reading. 

He didn’t hear any gunshots and initially thought it was a fire because a fire alarm went off. 

“But we were walking outside of the Bone, and we see police officers with [guns that look like] automatic rifles. And I’m thinking like, why would police need AR-15s for a fire?” Bazan said. 

After the all-clear, Friedman and a friend were trying to get a police escort to access valuables they’d left behind in the Prairie Room. (ISU said late Sunday that “information will be shared at a later time regarding how to retrieve belongings that were left in the Bone Student Center.”) 

“I left my laptop,” he said. “My friend here left his keys. Yeah, so we’re just—still a situation for us.” 

Timeline and history 

At 8:16 p.m., ISU told people to avoid the area around University and Locust streets, just northwest of the Bone Student Center, as well as the Bone itself. Police were still clearing the area at that time, ISU said in another emergency alert. ISU told anyone in the area to take precautions. 

“There is the potential of an immediate threat,” the 8:04 p.m. update read. 

This is the second incident of gunfire on this block in the past seven months. Two people were shot — one fatally — during a shooting Sept. 29 near University and Locust streets, right near the Bone Student Center. A Chicago man faces murder charges in that case. 

This appears to be third shooting incident leading to injury in Normal this year. There were two fatal shootings and five other injuries in 2024. 

Police are asking those with information about Sunday’s incident to email [email protected] or call 309-438-8631.

This story will be updated.