Category: Top Stories

Normal – Illinois State announced the hiring of new head men’s basketball coach Dan Muller on Tuesday afternoon. Athletic Director Gary Friedman made the announcement inside of Redbird Arena in front of a crowd filled with media and fans. Muller becomes the 19th men’s basketball coach in ISU history.

The 37-year-old Muller returns to his old-college stomping grounds where he played for the Redbids from 1994-98. He had a great career for the ‘Birds, scoring more than 1,400 points, earning the MVC Defensive Player of the Year twice and helped lead ISU to two MVC championships. He currently ranks no. 10 in career scoring at ISU with 1,445 points. In 2009 Muller was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame.

Prior to being named head coach of ISU, Muller spent 12 years with Vanderbilt as an assistant under head coach, and former ISU head coach, Kevin Stallings. Since 2006 Muller held the responsibility of  recruiting coordinator for Vanderbilt and the school has seen some of the highest rated recruiting classes in it’s history. Muller was regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country.

It only took Friedman two weeks to fill the coaching vacancy left by Tim Jankovich, who left to take the coach in waiting job at Southern Methodist on Aug. 26.

Friedman said, “After talking with several basketball people across the country it was evident that Dan was the complete package, in terms of academics, recruiting, evaluation, player development, in-game coaching and game preparation. He also brings a strong coaching pedigree and a love for this institution and program. We are thrilled to have Dan back home to lead our men’s basketball program.”

Muller agreed to a five-year contract with a salary of $375,000 per year.

“It is an honor to be here today,” Muller said. “It’s good to be home. This is the ideal situation for me.”

Muller stressed winning championships, recruiting and graduating talented players and scheduling.

“We want to have an RPI that would put us in position for an at-large bid if we don’t win the league tournament,” he said. “We want to bring in opponents to Redbird that fans can be excited about and to go places where our student-athletes can have great experiences.”

ISU’s non-conference schedule has been among the weakest in the MVC under Jankovich. With games still needing to be scheduled for the 2012-13 season, Muller will have a chance to immediately come through on his promise.

Although Muller didn’t go into detail on what kind of  playing style he will implement, he did say they will run a “winning system.”

ISU will be returning all their players from a team that came up short in the MVC championship game last year. So, the expectations for next season are high and winning a Valley championship and heading to the NCAA tournament will be part of these expectations. Muller seems to be fully aware and prepared to fulfill these expectations.

Bloomington – Shots were fired in the same neighborhood of south Bloomington for the third consecutive day. Police and witnesses believe as many as two shooters were involved.

The latest incident happened at 11:03 a.m. Thursday, around the same time police received reports of shots fired on Wednesday. Shots were also fired around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. No injuries have been reported, and police do not have any suspects in custody.

The previous shots fired reports on Tuesday and Wednesday were located in the 900 block of S. Center.

Bloomington Police Spokesman David White said Thursday’s incident of shots fired was located at 1008 S. Main.

Police interviewed witnesses and they said two-black males were armed and fled the scene of the crime.

The suspects left on foot to the northeast and might have left the scene in a vehicle.

WZND will update this story.

Bloomington – Police are in the 1000 Block of South Main Street after another report of shots fired. This is the third report of shots fired in as many days in that area.

Police report that multiple shots were fired by multiple people. No injuries have been reported.

Police have closed Main Street between Miller and Woods Streets.

WZND will update this story.

BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington Police are currently investigating a report of shots fired on south Center St. Wednesday afternoon. Police spokesman David White said the BPD believe that today’s shooting may be related to last night’s shooting.

White said Wednesday, a man told police that he was confronted by two-black males on the evening of May 1 while he was leaving his home in the block of 900 south Center St. towards  his car that was parked in the Walgreens’ parking lot on the corner of Main and Wood. He said the victim told police that one of the suspects raised his hand and the victim thought the suspect had a gun.

White said the victim told police he immediately got in his car and drove away and heard three to five gunshots.  He said that police received corroborating reports of hearing gun shots fired. There were no signs of the victim’s vehicle being hit by any of the gun fire.

On Wednesday, White said they received reports of shots fired in the 900 block of south Center St. around 11:10 am. He said a house and vehicles in the block of south Center St. were struck by gun fire. Police found no one to be injured.

There are no suspects in custody at this time.

WZND will update this story.

Bloomington – Bloomington Police confirmed that shots were fired at a resident’s home near the Walgreens on South Main Street with in the past hour. Officers are currently interviewing suspects. No more information is available at this time.

Stay tuned to WZND for more information on this story.

NORMAL – Illinois State University’s 153rd Spring Commencement will take place on Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12, with each college holding its own ceremony.

President Al Bowman will attend and speak at each ceremony, and a student representative from each college will also speak.

On Friday, the Mennonite College of Nursing ceremony will be at 4 p.m. in Braden Auditorium, and the College of Arts and Sciences ceremony will be at 7 p.m. in Redbird Arena.

On Saturday, the College of Education ceremony will be at 9 a.m. in Redbird Arena, College of Applied Science and Technology at 12:30 p.m. in Redbird Arena, College of Business at 4 p.m. in Redbird Arena and College of Fine Arts at 7 p.m. in Braden Auditorium.

Approximately 3,667 students will participate in Spring Commencement.

NORMAL — Illinois State University’s Relay for Life has been moved to the Redbird arena due to weather.

The campsite locations will be slightly smaller and will be given on a first come first serve basis starting at 4pm, like normal time.

Onsite Fundraiser can still take place. The only fundraiser that will need to change slightly will be if you were using a grill.  Grilling can still be done, but will need to be in the parking lot. Food can be brought inside.

Parking will be available at 4 pm.

The schedule will still be the same.

Below is a diagram of the layout:

NORMAL- ESPN is reporting that head Illinois State basketball coach Tim Jankovich has accepted the head coach-in-waiting position under Larry Brown at Southern Methodist University.

The deal is worth around $700,000 per year and there is no timetable for Jankovich taking over the head coaching position, according to the report. ISU and Jankovich have yet to release a statement, but a press conference is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

This story will be updated as details emerge. Tune into 103.3 FM for more coverage.

BLOOMINGTON — The autopsy of the man found dead and alleged shooter on Saturday night has been released. Joshua Jasso, 35, died from a single gunshot to the head.

The name of the victim in the shooting Saturday night has also been released.

The victim of this shooting is Charles V. Sandrock, 35, of 434 Standish Drive, Bloomington, Illinois.  Sandrock was shot three times in the upper torso area with a .22 caliber revolver.  The shooting occurred in the driveway of the Sandrock residence.

The preliminary investigation on the evening of the shooting indicated that the victim, Sandrock and the shooter Joshua M. Jasso, 38, knew each other.  They knew of each other through a mutual female friend that was also present at the Sandrock residence and a witness to this shooting.

As Sandrock was escorting the female friend to her car they were confronted by Jasso in the driveway.  Jasso was apparently upset that the female was seeing Sandrock.  At this time Sandrock and Jasso exchanged words.  Sandrock saw Jasso pull the revolver and start shooting.  It is undetermined how many rounds Jasso fired.  Sandrock attempted to flee as he was struck by bullets.

Jossa was found dead in his car Saturday night after a police chase.

Sandrock remains in the hospital. His condition is unknown.

At approximately 10:21 p.m., McLean county deputies were dispatched to Standish Drive located in the Colonial Meadows subdivision for a 911 call of shots fired.

MetComm dispatch advised the police that there was one known victim of the shooting at this time and the suspect shooter had fled the scene. MetComm then provided a description of the suspect vehicle.

As deputies were responding to the residence, one deputy observed a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle travelling westbound on Empire Street from Gettysburg Drive.  The deputy turned around and started following the suspect vehicle.

At the intersection of Empire and Veterans Parkway the traffic control signal was red and the deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle and was assisted by an officer of the Bloomington Police Department.

The driver ignored the commands of the deputy and maneuvered his vehicle out of his lane of traffic and turned northbound on Veterans Parkway.  The deputy pursued the vehicle northbound on Veterans Parkway and approximately 1 block north of Parkway Plaza and Veterans Parkway the suspect vehicle stopped.

At this location the deputy was assisted by officers from the Normal and Bloomington Police Departments in an effort to make an arrest of the suspect driver.  After several failed attempts to get the suspect to acknowledge the commands of the officers the vehicle was approached and the suspect was removed from the vehicle.

After removal of the suspect from the vehicle it was determined that the suspect was dead.  The McLean County Coroner’s Office was contacted and representatives responded to the scene.  At this time a joint investigation is being conducted by the McLean County Coroner’s Office and McLean County Sheriff’s Office.

The victim at the residence was transported to Saint Josephs Medical Center by Bloomington Township Fire Department and is receiving treatment for injuries.  The initial investigation has determined that the suspect and victim were known to each other.  The victims name is not being released due to the pending investigation and the McLean County Coroner’s office has taken charge of the deceased male suspect.  A firearm was recovered from the suspect vehicle.  No officers at the traffic stop location discharged their weapon.  Additional Information will be released as it becomes available.

Northbound Veterans Parkway from Parkway Plaza to Fort Jesse Road was closed for approximately three three hours for the investigation

This story was updated April 23, 2012 at 4:50 p.m.

The Occupy Blo-No group tent and campsite, located outside of Milner Library, was burnt down earlier this morning. Illinois State University Police responded to the scene at 2:30 a.m. and then called the Normal Fire Department at 2:36 a.m. Both the tent and the pallets that surrounded the tent were destroyed by the fire. Normal Fire Department responders extinguished the fire quickly.

“We are suspecting that this was not an accident,” said ISU police officer Partick Burke. “As of right now, the department is calling it arson.”

None of the belongings at the campsite were recovered. The Occupy Blo-No group, a facet of the international protest group that began as Occupy Wall Street, has been an organized party since late September 2011. Members have camped outside of Milner Library since early October, and also stayed at the Uptown Normal Circle to protest publicly. The group’s message is to improve the current state of the U.S. government and its economic policies.

Stay tuned to wznd.com for more updates on this story.

The ISU Police Department is still investigating this case.