'We just have to stop the violence': Cahokia Heights police investigate teen fatally shot

CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Ill. – The fatal shooting of a juvenile in a Cahokia Heights neighborhood has residents fearing for their own safety.

On Saturday morning, around 5:15 a.m., gunshots rang out in the 1300 block of Williams St. It's a sound that neighbors say is not unfamiliar.

An anonymous Cahokia Heights resident told FOX 2: “When you hear gunshots, I'm sitting here with my kids playing and I mean, you almost don't know what to do. It's almost post-traumatic too and I think it's going to hurt our kids a lot in the long run to hear those gunshots.”

The Cahokia Heights Police Department was called to the scene as part of a homicide investigation. Upon arrival, they located 17-year-old Terrance D. Booker with multiple gunshot wounds in the yard of a home. Booker was pronounced dead at the scene, which was down the street from his own home.

“This violence absolutely has to stop. There are too many young people who could contribute so much to society, but their lives are being cut short because of senseless violence,” said Frank Gully III, Terrance’s mentor.

Terrance has been described as a good son, always caring for his mother, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a tragic car accident a few years ago, and recently graduated from Lincoln Challenge Academy.

The family believes he was lured out by someone he trusted before he was shot. They say he was a sensible kid who was willing to work to make a positive contribution to this world as a truck driver.

Police and family are asking if anyone knows any information that could help solve the case to contact the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad at 618-332-4277 or CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).