EAST ALTON, Ill. — Police said they have a suspect in custody in connection with the shooting of two women outside an ice rink in East Alton over the weekend.
East Alton Police Chief Scott Golike said the department will provide more information in a press conference Thursday morning.
East Alton police said over the weekend that they were looking for a man who shot two women outside an ice arena where a youth hockey game was getting ready to start Saturday night.
Around 8 p.m., officers responding to the shooting converged on the parking lot of East Gate Plaza, a strip mall along Lewis and Clark Boulevard near the intersection with West St. Louis Avenue.
Golike said the shooting happened directly outside the East Alton Ice Arena. The suspect, who was unknown to the victims, walked up and started a brief conversation with them. He then pulled out a gun and fired a shot that struck both women, and ran away.
The women were both taken to an area hospital for treatment. Golike did not have details on their conditions but said one woman was more seriously injured than the other.
The man's motives were unclear, but it appears it may have been an attempted robbery gone wrong, Golike said.
Larry Thatcher, the manager of the ice arena, said officials have turned parking lot surveillance video over to police. On the East Alton Police Department Facebook page, there was a description of the man police were searching for in connection to this incident.