Campustown Shooting Affects Campus & Hospital Where Victim Was To Start Work
A Champaign County Sheriff's vehicle is parked near the scene of Saturday night's fatal shooting in the 300 block of East Green Street, Champaign. around 1 a.m. Sunday. Sean Neumann / Illinois Public Media
A fatal shooting in Champaign’s Campustown neighborhood has shaken the nearby University of Illinois campus, as well as the hospital where the victim was expected to start work this week.
22-year-old George Korchev of Mundelein had recently passed his nursing board exam, and was expected to start work Monday as a registered nurse at Advocate Condell Medical Center in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville.
Hospital officials say Korchev was “known as a skilled, empathetic and selfless caregiver.”
Champaign Police say Korchev was shot to death late Saturday night as he walked past an apartment building on Green Street in the Campustown neighborhood, where a fight had broken out at a party. Police say three other people suffered non-critical wounds in the incident. Another person was injured when struck by a car driven by a motorist fleeing the gunfire.
Half an hour later, yet another person was shot and injured on State Street, a few blocks to the west. Authorities say the two shootings may be related. They’re still searching for a suspect, and ask any eyewitnesses to contact them.
The deadly shooting was troubling to students on the U of I Urbana campus.
First-year law student Chris Williams said while he’s used to hearing about shootings in his hometown of Chicago, having it happen in Champaign changed the way he thought about the community.
“Obviously, no place is 100 percent safe, but to have people shot who weren’t even involved in the respective incident - it makes me feel a little bit less safe, honestly,” said Williams.
University Urbana Campus Chancellor Robert Jones said in an all-campus email Sunday afternoon that “today we need to come together to help those who have been harmed to start that healing.”
The Student Senate plans a public vigil for the shooting victims, Tuesday night at 7 on the Main Quad.