Aurora man charged with firing weapon into crowd at Juneteenth celebration near Willowbrook

UNINCORPORATED WILLOWBROOK, Ill. - An Aurora man believed to be connected to the deadly mass shooting in unincorporated Willowbrook last summer has been charged.

Prosecutors say Anthony Mothershed,19, fired a weapon into a crowd gathered to celebrate Juneteenth.

On June 18, 2023, just after midnight, DuPage County Sheriff's deputies responded to gunshots fired in a strip mall parking lot near Kingerly Highway and Honeysuckle Rose Lane.

Reginald Meadows, a 31-year-old man from Willowbrook, was killed, and more than 20 others were wounded by gunfire. 

Mothershed was at the celebration with a group of individuals standing outside the Legacy Beauty Supply when he began shooting a Kahr Arms CW45 .45 caliber pistol in the direction of others at the celebration, accordion to the Sheriff's Office. 

Prosecutors say Mothershed allegedly fled the scene.

Mothershed was arrested by the DuPage County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, months after the deadly shooting. 

He was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm directed at another person and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. 

Mothershed appeared in court Friday morning where he was denied pre-trial release. His arraignment was scheduled for Oct. 23. 

The family of the mass shooting victims made a public plea for answers at a meeting in DuPage County just last week.