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Woman gunned down on Ill. highway as drivers watch
What have we come to? Murder in broad daylight? And no one "wanted to get involved" Shaking my head.
Woman gunned down on Ill. highway as drivers watch
By DAVID MERCER Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
Monday, June 21, 2010 6:42 PM EDT
Dozens of drivers crawling along in Sunday traffic on a busy St. Louis-area highway watched in horror as a woman, bleeding from a gunshot wound, leapt from a car and across several lanes of traffic, banging on vehicle windows and begging for help before her boyfriend chased her down and shot her in the head, then killed himself, authorities said.
The violence unfolded Sunday afternoon in the most public of places, but authorities had little more to go on than terrified drivers' accounts in trying to figure out why it happened. It happened so quickly that most had no time to help.
Tommie Hill, who lived in East St. Louis, Ill., killed Ashley Oliver, from nearby Cahokia, Ill., within sight of Hill's 7-year-old daughter, who was sitting about 50 feet away in the car.
"I don't know what started this," Sgt. Dave Wasmuth said. "And we may never know."
Police started receiving 911 calls about 2 p.m., Wasmuth said. Some callers said there'd been what they thought might be a traffic accident, while others were clear about what they'd seen: a shooting, right there on Interstate 64 just west of the Mississippi River and St. Louis' Gateway Arch.
Oliver, according to the account police pulled together from witnesses, jumped out of the car, probably with it still moving, and started running to other vehicles heading slowly north on the freeway. The 25-year-old was shot at least once either just before or after she got out of the car, Wasmuth said.
An autopsy found Oliver was shot three times in all, once in her right shoulder, once in the right side of the neck, and finally on the right side of her head, St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone said. It wasn't clear just when the first two shots were fired.
Oliver begged for help from people inside other vehicles, banging on their windows as Hill, also 25, quickly closed in, Wasmuth said.
At least one driver to started to roll down his window, "until we saw that gun," Scott Cross, 38, of East St. Louis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Hill pulled the semiautomatic handgun from his pants and shot Oliver one last time, Wasmuth and witnesses said. Then he put the gun to the right side of his own head and fired. He died there on the pavement, Stone said.
Oliver was taken to a hospital in East St. Louis, where she died at 3:48 p.m. Sunday, the coroner said.
The chase was brief, and the shooting happened quickly, too quickly to give anyone on the freeway a realistic chance to help, Wasmuth said. "There was no time for anybody to intervene."
Hill's body lay in the middle eastbound lane of the highway for a while as traffic crawled by in the passing lane. Police later shut down a section of the highway for about three hours.
Wasmuth said Monday that he'd turned up no orders of protection or other signs that Hill and Oliver were headed toward the kind of tragedy that played out Sunday afternoon.
The only witness to what happened in the car appears to be Hill's daughter, who wasn't hurt and is now with her mother. Given her age and what she saw, Wasmuth said police are taking their time interviewing her and don't expect to learn much.
"I don't even think the girl in the car knows what it was, what set it off," he said.
Hill's uncle, Tyrone Cameron, said he spoke to Hill about an hour before the shootings and heard nothing that concerned him.
The couple, Cameron told the Post-Dispatch, "had their ups and downs, but I never thought it would come to this."
Wasmuth, who is based in nearby Collinsville, said he didn't know Hill, but some other officers who work in the area said they were familiar with him.
Hill had a long criminal record, including a conviction for cocaine possession and delivery in 2004 that led him to spend almost three years behind bars, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. St. Clair County court records show he was due in court in next month after being charged with possession of marijuana and again in September over a pair of criminal trespass on state property charges.
The gun Hill used Sunday, Wasmuth said, was reported stolen several years ago in Mississippi.
Original Article can be found at:
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?id=16372787&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en
Woman gunned down on Ill. highway as drivers watch
By DAVID MERCER Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
Monday, June 21, 2010 6:42 PM EDT
Dozens of drivers crawling along in Sunday traffic on a busy St. Louis-area highway watched in horror as a woman, bleeding from a gunshot wound, leapt from a car and across several lanes of traffic, banging on vehicle windows and begging for help before her boyfriend chased her down and shot her in the head, then killed himself, authorities said.
The violence unfolded Sunday afternoon in the most public of places, but authorities had little more to go on than terrified drivers' accounts in trying to figure out why it happened. It happened so quickly that most had no time to help.
Tommie Hill, who lived in East St. Louis, Ill., killed Ashley Oliver, from nearby Cahokia, Ill., within sight of Hill's 7-year-old daughter, who was sitting about 50 feet away in the car.
"I don't know what started this," Sgt. Dave Wasmuth said. "And we may never know."
Police started receiving 911 calls about 2 p.m., Wasmuth said. Some callers said there'd been what they thought might be a traffic accident, while others were clear about what they'd seen: a shooting, right there on Interstate 64 just west of the Mississippi River and St. Louis' Gateway Arch.
Oliver, according to the account police pulled together from witnesses, jumped out of the car, probably with it still moving, and started running to other vehicles heading slowly north on the freeway. The 25-year-old was shot at least once either just before or after she got out of the car, Wasmuth said.
An autopsy found Oliver was shot three times in all, once in her right shoulder, once in the right side of the neck, and finally on the right side of her head, St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone said. It wasn't clear just when the first two shots were fired.
Oliver begged for help from people inside other vehicles, banging on their windows as Hill, also 25, quickly closed in, Wasmuth said.
At least one driver to started to roll down his window, "until we saw that gun," Scott Cross, 38, of East St. Louis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Hill pulled the semiautomatic handgun from his pants and shot Oliver one last time, Wasmuth and witnesses said. Then he put the gun to the right side of his own head and fired. He died there on the pavement, Stone said.
Oliver was taken to a hospital in East St. Louis, where she died at 3:48 p.m. Sunday, the coroner said.
The chase was brief, and the shooting happened quickly, too quickly to give anyone on the freeway a realistic chance to help, Wasmuth said. "There was no time for anybody to intervene."
Hill's body lay in the middle eastbound lane of the highway for a while as traffic crawled by in the passing lane. Police later shut down a section of the highway for about three hours.
Wasmuth said Monday that he'd turned up no orders of protection or other signs that Hill and Oliver were headed toward the kind of tragedy that played out Sunday afternoon.
The only witness to what happened in the car appears to be Hill's daughter, who wasn't hurt and is now with her mother. Given her age and what she saw, Wasmuth said police are taking their time interviewing her and don't expect to learn much.
"I don't even think the girl in the car knows what it was, what set it off," he said.
Hill's uncle, Tyrone Cameron, said he spoke to Hill about an hour before the shootings and heard nothing that concerned him.
The couple, Cameron told the Post-Dispatch, "had their ups and downs, but I never thought it would come to this."
Wasmuth, who is based in nearby Collinsville, said he didn't know Hill, but some other officers who work in the area said they were familiar with him.
Hill had a long criminal record, including a conviction for cocaine possession and delivery in 2004 that led him to spend almost three years behind bars, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. St. Clair County court records show he was due in court in next month after being charged with possession of marijuana and again in September over a pair of criminal trespass on state property charges.
The gun Hill used Sunday, Wasmuth said, was reported stolen several years ago in Mississippi.
Original Article can be found at:
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?id=16372787&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en
Basically this happened in one of the poorest most corrupt counties in Illinois. East St. Louis is a dangerous enough area if your not from there where you have everything from crack head children walking the streets on up. In my day job when people call our agency I almost want to cry for shame because many of the people are so poor you want them to get every break possible but all too many people there can't even read.
of course they do ,I stil think that the folks didnt react as they werent aware ..I would like to think I would get her into my car , but who knows ...
This situation is awful. I can understand why a bystander stuck in traffic would be afraid to let her in the car. But at least call 911.
You know, here in Texas we have a right to carry law. And very many do. The attacker may have been stopped if someone else had a gun. Who knows??
Please note that this gun was stolen. Those who want to restrict gun ownership may try to use this to further their unconstitutional agenda. That would be foolish. This case proves that the bad guys will get guns if they want them. And they want them.
You know, here in Texas we have a right to carry law. And very many do. The attacker may have been stopped if someone else had a gun. Who knows??
Please note that this gun was stolen. Those who want to restrict gun ownership may try to use this to further their unconstitutional agenda. That would be foolish. This case proves that the bad guys will get guns if they want them. And they want them.
This sort of thing has been happening for a long time now. It's a combination of society becoming desensitized to violence, and a fear of getting involved. It's tragic. It seems we are hearing more and more stories. Remember the homeless guy that laid on the cement after defending a women against an attacker, then the attacker turned on him? I cannot imagine just ignoring something like this, or at least I like to think I would not...I do know I would at least be calling 911....but who knows when faced with a situation like this what we would do. It's scary and to me, a real sign as to where we are headed as a society in general. It's part of why criminals are able to get away with things...
OMG thats a nasty story she was banging on car doors for help ,I hate that ,I wonder if it happened so quickly people didnt react ...oh Dear
It makes you wonder what you would do in a similar situation. Would you think it was a movie being shot? Would you feel afraid for your own life?
Hopefully, we would care enough to call and do what we could. This is a tragic ending.
Hopefully, we would care enough to call and do what we could. This is a tragic ending.
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