Jacksonville Police were called at 5:23 Sunday morning to the 800 block of Hoagland Boulevard after a caller to the Joint Morgan County Dispatch Center reported gunshots being fired in the parking lot of the Turner High Rise Apartment Complex. According to police records, the caller stated they heard seven to eight shots fired and could hear screaming.
Jacksonville Police Investigators say while officers searched the area of the incident, 26-year-old Malcom Fitts of Chicago and formerly of Jacksonville arrived at Passavant Area Hospital by a personal vehicle.
Fitts was pronounced dead at 6:52 yesterday morning at Passavant, according to a joint statement this morning by Police Chief Adam Mefford and Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson.
Patterson says the official cause of death is pending an autopsy. Jacksonville Police say the incident is being investigated as a homicide. Investigators believe the shooting was an isolated incident and say they do not believe the public is in danger.
The Jacksonville Police Department, Morgan County Coroner’s Office, and the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office are all handling the investigation
Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to call the Morgan-Scott-Cass Crimestoppers unit at 217-243-7300 or the Jacksonville Police Investigation Division at 217-479-4636.