According to a press release sent out by the Charleston Police Department, police responded to a shots fired call at 2:24 a.m. Sunday at 634 W. State Street and found two gunshot victims and one battery victim. 

The Charleston Fire Department transported the three injured people to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

The gathering at 634 W. State St. was advertised as a “Barn Party,” and was hosted by Eastern’s fraternity Phi Beta Sigma, the release said. 

Police observed 300-400 people at the barn party, the release said.

The release also said the party was hosted by G.O.M.A.B. Productions. G.O.M.A.B. is the motto of Phi Beta Sigma. 

According to the Murray State Website on the Phi Beta Sigma page, the “G” stands for “guidance,” the “O” stands for “obstacle,” the “M” stands for “mind,” the “A” stands for “atmosphere” and “B” stands for “blasted.”

The administrations offices for the Charleston Police Department, University Police Department and Mattoon Police Department were closed Sunday, and officials were unavailable to comment. 

Members of Phi Beta Sigma did not return phone calls to comment on the incident. 

The investigation is currently ongoing. 

Dan Nadler, the vice president for student affairs, sent out an email to all students at around 4:45 p.m. Sunday, reiterating the CPD’s press release. 

Additional information was also provided in the email, including saying if anybody had any information about the shooting, they are to contact the CPD at 348-5221. 

The email also detailed where students can find safety precautions on Eastern’s Website at http://www.eiu.edu/~stuaff/safety.php.

Before the “Barn Party”, those attending met in the strip mall’s parking lot on W. Lincoln Avenue and waited to be picked up by buses to go to the warehouse on W. State Street.

Shards of glass and shreds of paper littered the parking lot, extending from the strip mall’s parking lot to Lakeview College of Nursing’s parking lot. 

Alcohol bottles were stacked set up near light posts. 

These remnants were evident the next morning when Mayor Larry Rennels stopped by to survey the mess.

The various shreds of tickets for the “Barn Party” in the parking lot had numbers printed well into the 800s. 

Rennels said the CPD had already known about the condition of the parking lot when he arrived. 

“Police were already aware of what happened,” Rennels said. 

He added they were in contact with the storeowners so they would know about the mess. 

He also said it would most likely be up to property owners to clean up the mess. 

Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].