Suspect in custody after shooting at park

A Cape Girardeau man was taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds to his leg and abdomen, and another person was in police custody Sunday evening after a shooting at Ranney Park.

In an email to media outlets, Cpl. Darin Hickey of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said a suspect had been arrested about 8 p.m., and police were not looking for any additional suspects.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries that were not life-threatening, Hickey said in the email.

Members of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Cape County Private Ambulance and the Cape Girardeau Fire Department load the victim of a shooting into an ambulance at Ranney Park in Cape Girardeau shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday. (Glenn Landberg)

Hickey did not release the suspect's name, pending formal charges, but several Illinois State Police radio bulletins earlier had indicated officers were looking for Dante Lamar Criddle, 23, of Carbondale, Illinois, in connection with a shooting in Cape Girardeau.

A broadcast shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday canceled the earlier bulletins and stated the suspect was in custody.

Sgt. Rick Schmidt of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said police received a report at 6:18 p.m. Sunday of shots fired, with a possible person struck, at the park at the intersection of Ranney Avenue and Maple Street.

Officers responding to the scene found the victim just north of the park with a bullet wound to his upper right leg, Schmidt said.

Speaking with a reporter by telephone about 7 p.m. Sunday, Schmidt said the victim, who was in his 20s, was conscious, alert and talking when police found him, but he did not know the extent or severity of the man's injuries.

"He was able to answer questions, and he knew his name," Schmidt said. "His condition right now is unknown."

Police combed the park for evidence, with one investigator using a metal detector to assist in the search.

"He was searching for any kind of spent casings or a spent bullet that may have been fired," Schmidt said.

According to the Illinois State Police broadcasts, Criddle has a history of unlawful use of a weapon.

Online court records revealed no prior convictions on weapons-related charges but showed Criddle has had several previous brushes with the law.

In October 2011 in Jackson County, Illinois, Criddle pleaded guilty to criminal trespass to land. A misdemeanor assault charge against him in the same case was dropped.

Two months later, he pleaded guilty in Jackson County to public indecency and disorderly conduct in a case in which another assault charge was dismissed.

Missouri court records also list several prior offenses for a Cape Girardeau man with the same name and year of birth.

The man listed in those records pleaded guilty in December in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court to a 2013 charge of distributing marijuana and was placed on five years of supervised probation. In an earlier case, he pleaded guilty in July 2013 to marijuana possession and was sentenced to 30 days in the Cape Girardeau County Jail.

In January 2014, the Cape Girardeau man also pleaded guilty to a November 2013 charge of domestic assault and was placed on two years of supervised probation, but his probation was revoked in November, and he was ordered to serve 120 days in the Cape Girardeau County Jail, online court records show.

It was not immediately clear whether the Criddle listed in Missouri court records was the same person as the man mentioned in the Illinois State Police broadcasts as having a Carbondale address.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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