Shiloh man ‘lucky’ to survive shooting at convenience store, prosecutor says

Two men pulled out guns during an argument at a Shiloh convenience store, but only one of them fired his weapon and the other is “lucky” he wasn’t shot, a St. Clair County prosecutor said Wednesday during a detention hearing.

Anthony D. White, 20, of Shiloh, is accused of firing his gun into Steven Hawkins’ Chevrolet Sonic as Hawkins fled the Kings Mart at 1551 Hartman Lane on April 3, according to charging documents and St. Clair County Assistant State’s Attorney Levi Carwile.

In a detention hearing for White, St. Clair County Associate Judge Sara L. Rice ordered White to remain in the St. Clair County Jail on charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Carwile told Rice that a bullet nearly hit Hawkins in his head and that he was “lucky to not have been shot.” Glass was shattered in the car and investigators found bullet holes.

Carwile said Shiloh police obtained surveillance video that shows White went to his vehicle parked at the store, grabbed a gun and fired shots at Hawkins’ car.

Assistant Public Defender Satchel Conroy, representing White in the detention hearing, said White should be released from the county jail because it was Hawkins who first pulled out a gun and that White got out his gun as a matter of “self-defense.”

“I think this guy is the actual criminal,” Conroy said of Hawkins. “This whole case is outrageous.”

Hawkins, 24, of Shiloh, faces a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He has a court date of May 3.

As part of the state’s revamped criminal justice system that ended cash bail on Sept. 18, judges now conduct detention hearings to determine whether someone should remain in jail until their trial on cases involving serious charges.