One dead, another wounded after gunfire at Carbondale party

By Tyler Davis and Bill Lukitsch, Daily Egyptian

Update: Carbondale police have named Travis T. Tyler, 21, and John F. Ingram, 21, both of Cape Girardeau, Mo., as suspects in the shootings early Sunday. Each man is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony, and aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony. 

A man was shot dead near a party in the 400 block of West Walnut Street early Sunday morning in Carbondale, according to Carbondale police. 

Two men were fighting during a party at 402 W. Walnut St., about 2 a.m. when one pulled a gun and started shooting, multiple witnesses said. Friends of the deceased identified him as Tim Beaty, who they said lived next door and was hit by a stray bullet while at home in bed.

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He is survived by a young son, friends said Sunday. 

A second gunshot victim was taken to the Carbondale Memorial Hospital with a non-life threatening injury, police said. The man was revealed Wednesday to be Nehemiah Greenlee, according to Carbondale police. Greenlee is not an SIU student. 

The condition of the second victim is unknown at this time. Neither are SIU students, SIU police Chief Benjamin Newman said.

Police on Sunday arrested Dwayne J. Dunn Jr., of St. Louis, and charged him with reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony. Dunn, 21, is not an SIU student, according to the university, and is being held a Jackson County Jail on $500,000 bond.

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CPD spokesman Sgt. Corey Kemp would not comment Monday if it was Dunn’s shot that killed Beaty. 

“I saw pretty much everything,” said Sam Knepler, a friend of Beaty’s who lived close by and witnessed the incident.

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MORE: Friends remember “funny, witty, smart” Beaty

Knepler said he was at home with his roommate watching the party unfold from their back window when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.  

“And then suddenly everybody scattered,” he said. “People ran away, people got in their cars and sped away and within like a minute the police were there and an ambulance came, but that was for somebody else.” 

Partygoers, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, said the gathering was for the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. However, the SIU undergraduate chapter is suspended, according to SIU’s fraternity and sorority page, and no official home is listed for the organization.

Witnesses say the event was peaceful until one man got aggressive with another. A student who lives in the area said he heard about 15 gunshots and estimated there were more than 200 people at the home.

MORE: A Daily Egyptian reporter was at this party. Here’s what she heard and saw.

Participants evacuated the room where the incident occurred, causing a stampede, one SIU senior said.

“Everybody was running,” he said. “I told everybody to get into this little square room … we packed [the room] and the next thing you know was ‘pop, pop, pop.'”

A sophomore said some partygoers broke windows to escape the gunfire.

MORE: How safe do you feel in Carbondale? Join the conversation here.

Friends of Beaty gathered Sunday at Lost Cross, a former residence of Beaty’s that serves as a music venue for punk bands. Beaty performed there with one of his bands, Blast Radius, a little more than a week before the incident.

“He was an excellent drummer and he was one of the best people to talk to even if you didn’t know him,” Knepler said

The shooting Sunday morning is the latest in a string of gun violence in the Carbondale area this year. On Jan. 30, Spencer DePue, a senior from Bolingbrook studying management, was shot and mugged during Polar Bear weekend.

Carbondale police were searching Feb. 25 for the suspect in a shooting that left one victim with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his hand. In early February, Carbondale police arrested two suspects for a shooting that happened near Saluki Apartments on Feb. 2. 

Most recently, Andy Juravic, a sophomore from Glenview studying business, was robbed at gunpoint about 200 yards from the west side of campus, just north of the Communication Building.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Carbondale Police Department at (618) 457-3200 or Crime Stoppers at (618) 549-COPS (2677).

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the altercation occurred at SIU’s Phi Beta Sigma fraternity house. The home the party took place in is not officially tied to the fraternity.

Luke Nozicka contributed to this report. 

The Daily Egyptian’s campus desk can be reached at 618-536-3325.

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