COLUMBIA, Ill. – A Collinsville man and Cahokia Heights teenager have been charged with shooting an Uber driver outside the Columbia, Illinois, police station over the weekend.
According to Col. Jason P. Donjon, Chief of Police for the Columbia Police Department, the shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
Police said the Uber driver went to pick up two passengers, a 20-year-old man and 17-year-old boy, at an undisclosed location in north St. Louis. Shortly after getting into the vehicle, one passenger pulled a gun and ordered the driver to drive to his home in Columbia, Illinois.
The driver initially complied with the order, but upon entering Columbia, the driver diverted to the police station parking lot to seek help. Police said teenager shot the driver in the face. Both suspects ran from the vehicle toward Bolm-Schuhkraft City Park.
The driver, a 52-year-old man, suffered critical injuries, but is expected to survive, police said.
Police eventually took four people into custody, including the two suspects believed to be the passengers in the Uber driver’s vehicle.
On Sunday, the Monroe County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Kareem Weaver with vehicular invasion, attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated unlawful restraint, and aggravated kidnapping. Weaver is being held at the Monroe County Jail.
The 17-year-old juvenile suspect was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, vehicular invasion, attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated unlawful restraint, and aggravated kidnapping. The teen is in custody at the Juvenile Detention Center in Belleville.