A 19-year-old West Frankfort man is being held without bond after a juvenile was shot by someone riding an ATV in rural Franklin County, Illinois, on Friday evening. Cameron T. Stidhum now faces felony charges including aggravated battery with a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm, according to Franklin County Sheriff Kyle Bacon.
The West Frankfort Police and Fire Department Dispatch Center received a 911 call at approximately 6:08 p.m. Friday reporting that a juvenile had been shot, according to a statement from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. The caller had stayed with the injured juvenile and reported that a male subject operating an ATV had fired the shot. As KFVS12 reported, the juvenile was transported for treatment of what Sheriff Bacon described as a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Officers who responded to the scene located additional witnesses and eventually found an individual matching the description of the male subject accused of shooting the juvenile, per the sheriff's account. That individual was identified as Stidhum, who is from West Frankfort. He was arrested and charged with aggravated battery involving the use of a firearm and with possession of a stolen firearm, and he is currently in custody following the shooting, per the article.
Multiple Agencies Joined the Search
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office was assisted by multiple area law enforcement agencies during the initial response and the search for the suspect, including the West Frankfort Police Department and the neighboring Williamson County Sheriff's Office, according to the sheriff's statement. Williamson County sits directly south of Franklin County, and the cooperation between the departments helped investigators track down witnesses and the suspect in the hours after the shooting.
The investigation remains ongoing, and it is not yet clear from available reporting where the stolen firearm originated or whether additional charges could follow a grand jury review. The current status of the juvenile's recovery has not been detailed beyond the sheriff's description of the wound as non-life-threatening.
Steep Penalties Under Illinois Law
The aggravated battery charge Stidhum faces is classified in Illinois as a Class X felony because it involves the discharge of a firearm, under 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05. Class X felonies carry a mandatory prison term of 6 to 30 years with no eligibility for probation, according to O'Meara Law, making it the most serious classification in Illinois short of first-degree murder.
The possession of a stolen firearm charge is a separate Class 2 felony under 720 ILCS 5/24-3.8, punishable by 3 to 7 years in state prison and fines of up to $25,000, according to Phil Haddad Law. Class 2 felony convictions in Illinois generally require confinement in a state penitentiary rather than a county jail.
Stidhum is being held without bond, a possibility created by Illinois' Pretrial Fairness Act under the broader SAFE-T Act, which abolished cash bail statewide. The law allows judges to detain defendants charged with forcible Class X felonies without any bond option if prosecutors petition the court and demonstrate the defendant poses a threat to public safety, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. Illinois eliminated cash bail across all state courts in September 2023.
ATVs and Public Roads Don't Mix, Under State Law
Beyond the criminal charges, the case touches on a separate regulatory issue: Illinois law generally bars ATVs and other non-highway vehicles from public streets and highways. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1426.1, such vehicles can only be operated on public roads if local municipal or county authorities have passed an ordinance specifically authorizing it, and only on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or lower, according to the Illinois General Assembly. It has not been reported whether the road where the shooting occurred falls under any such local exemption.
A Rare Crime in a Small Town
West Frankfort is a Franklin County community of roughly 7,118 residents with a median household income of $47,898, located about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, according to Niche. Violent crime is uncommon there — FBI data released in late 2025 recorded just five violent crimes in the city during the 2024 calendar year, a rate of roughly 1 per 1,000 residents. Franklin County overall had an estimated population of 36,916 residents in 2025, with unincorporated areas policed by the sheriff's office led by Sheriff Bacon, per USAFacts.
The shooting adds to a string of serious felony cases that have touched the small city this year. In June, West Frankfort was rattled when the principal of Frankfort Community High School resigned following an arrest on felony battery charges, a case that had put the district on administrative leave before the resignation amid ongoing court proceedings.
