GIANA DETTLOFF KILLED IN BLOOMINGTON HALLOWEEN SHOOTING

Gunfire broke out at a Halloween party near Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, in the early hours of Sunday, killing Giana Dettloff, a student at North Central College, and injuring eight other people. She had travelled to the city to visit one of her closest friends for the weekend. Bloomington police said between 150 and 200 people had gathered in a shared backyard between two houses when the shooting occurred. An officer in the vicinity heard around ten gunshots at approximately 1.20am and reached the scene within a minute to find multiple people wounded, according to police. Officials said the number of shooting victims rose to nine, with Dettloff killed and eight others injured.

Police Chief Jamal Simington said he had personally patrolled the area before the shooting and saw no signs of trouble, describing the gathering as "noticeably peaceful, jovial", with "no disturbances witnessed or reported prior to the shooting". He said: "There was no indication or warning that a shooting would occur." Bryce Janssen, the Bloomington Police Department's public information officer, said: "Immediately after the shooting occurred, everybody fled. Everybody that was able to flee took off and ran." Those close to her remembered Dettloff as a cheerleader. Among those injured was another recent Glenbard North graduate.

Simington said he spent more than an hour with Dettloff's parents on Sunday morning. "According to her parents, she was their only daughter," he said. Friends and family described her positivity, kindness and dedication to others as having left a lasting impact on her community. Those who knew her also described her as an "angel on this earth".