Illinois shootings leave 8 people killed; suspect dead of self-inflicted gunshot in Texas, police say
A man suspected of fatally shooting eight people in a Chicago suburb has died after shooting himself following a confrontation with police in Texas, officials said.
Police in Joliet, Illinois, said the suspect, Romeo Nance, 23, was located by U.S. Marshals at around 8:30 p.m. CT on Monday near Natalia, Texas.
The Medina County Sheriff’s Office in Texas said Nance shot himself in a standoff with multiple law enforcement agencies at a gas station in Natalia, a small city roughly 30 miles southwest of San Antonio. Nance died as a result of the self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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Seven people found dead in two homes on Monday
The Joliet Police Department said they received a call from the Will County Sheriff’s Office at around noon on Monday after deputies found multiple people dead in two homes during an investigation into a homicide from Sunday.
After finding blood outside a home in Joilet, sheriff's deputies entered and found five people dead from gunshot wounds. Soon after, deputies entered another home nearby and found two people dead from gunshot wounds, officials said.
Police believe Nance is also a suspect in a Sunday shooting that left one person dead. The shooting is being investigated by the Will County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’ve been a policeman 29 years and this is probably the worst crime scene I’ve ever been associated with,” Joliet Police Chief William Evans said during a news conference on Monday evening.
Police said Nance is the suspect in all three shootings in Joliet, as well as another non-fatal shooting that also took place in the city on Sunday.
One dead, one injured in two shootings on Sunday
The Will County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to calls about a shooting at Pheasant Run Apartments in Unincorporated Joliet Township on Sunday and found a man bleeding from the head from a gunshot wound outside. He was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
During a news conference, Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles identified the man as Toyosi Bakare, a 28-year-old originally from Nigeria who had been living in the area for three years.
Approximately 10 minutes before that incident, a 42-year-old man was shot in the leg and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
Police said the two Sunday shootings appear to be "random" and the two men don't appear to be connected.
Evans told reporters that police believe the Sunday shootings have "some correlation" to the shootings discovered on Monday but would not elaborate on why police believe that. While police have not determined a motive, they said Nance knew the seven victims found in the two nearby homes in Joliet.
Joliet police said the Will County Coroner's Office will identify the victims and the manner of death. An investigation is ongoing.