New details secured in last week's fatal shooting in rural Salem

Posted By: Withers Syndication
April 23, 2021 @ 12:15 pm
Local News

MARION COUNTY — Marion County authorities continue to hold tight to details surrounding the shooting death last week of 31-year-old Wesley Bivens at his rural Salem home. However, information obtained from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office through a Freedom of Information Act request has secured some never-before-released information.

According to deputy reports, Bivens’ girlfriend “CB” called 911 around 6:30 p.m. the evening of Thursday, April 15, to report her boyfriend was coming at her, trying to hit her so she shot him.

She informed dispatch that she would be waiting outside the home in the 2700 block of Miles Lane and had left the gun inside the house but her boyfriend hadn’t yet left the home.

Deputy reports say the weapon used was left on the “snack bar counter” in the kitchen.

Upon arrival, deputies confirmed a black handgun was sitting on the “snack bar” counter in the kitchen of the home and Bivens was in the hallway of the home, deceased and on his back. A bullet casing was found next to the victim on his right side and another casing was found on the bed, which was also to his right.

Wesley Bivens was found dead in the hallway of the home he shared with his girlfriend.

The deputy noted a large amount of blood was behind the victim’s head and his arms were covering his chest. The deputy and EMS then left the house to await the coroner and a search warrant for the home. County tax records list the girlfriend CB as the owner of the home.

Around that time another man reportedly pulled into the driveway of the home and identified himself as “CB’s” father. When asked how he knew something was going on at the home, the man reportedly told the deputy that he has access to the cameras in the home. He then explained that his phone cannot store surveillance footage but he believed there was a recorder inside the home that may show some footage.

After deputies secured a search warrant for the home, an Illinois State Police Crime Scene investigator secured two other weapons from the home, a 9 mm pistol and a .22 rifle from a closet in the downstairs bedroom of the two-bedroom home. Also secured was approximately 50 rounds of 9 mm ammunition located in the glovebox of a Chevrolet truck in the driveway that’s apparently registered to the girlfriend.

“CB” was taken to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department to be interviewed and her cell phone was taken into evidence. Charges have not been filed in the case, the girlfriend has not been taken into custody, nor has her identity officially released.