Army ROTC Cadet shot on highway was returning to campus for spring semester, friends say
EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois (KMOV) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps says the student who was shot in a random attack Thursday night is one of their cadets.
The SIUE Army ROTC identified the student as Moneer Damra. The group said Damra was shot in the neck and remains in critical condition. According to several friends of Damra, he had just been picked up from the airport and was headed back to campus when he was shot. The driver was able to get back to campus and call 911, while paramedics worked to keep Damra alive.
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16-year-old Jacob Godoy of Woodson Terrace, Missouri was charged as an adult with attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and 19-year-old Jimmy Ortiz of Hazelwood, Missouri was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm. Godoy is facing 20-80 years and Ortiz 6-30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections if convicted, according to the Madison County, Illinois Stateâs Attorneyâs Office Facebook page.
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The Illinois State Police had custody of four suspects as of 2 a.m. this morning, but the other two were released without charges.
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The victim, an SIUE student, who was shot the night of Thursday Jan. 14, is currently in critical but stable condition at a hospital in St. Louis, according to SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll. Two SIUE students were in the vehicle when the shooting occurred at the intersection of I-270 and I-157; one was driving, and the other was shot.