8 people shot dead at three locations near Chicago, suspect absconding: Illinois Police

Police in Joliet and Will counties claimed that they were still trying to find out the motive behind the killings.

Updated on: Jan 23, 2024, 06:18:09 IST

By HT News Desk

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A man shot and killed eight people at three locations since Sunday in the United States's Chicago suburbs and remains at large, Illinois authorities said on Monday. Police in Joliet and Will counties claimed that they were still trying to find out the motive behind the killings. The authorities also claimed that the man knew the victims.

Police work at the scene of a shooting in Tinley Park on Sunday. Authorities have identified a woman and her three adult daughters who were found slain inside their suburban Chicago home. (AP)

The victims were found Sunday and Monday at three separate locations, authorities told reporters on Monday evening, several hours after warning on social media that the man should be considered “armed and dangerous.”

One of the persons killed was found on Sunday in a home in Will County. Seven others were found on Monday at two homes in Joliet.

Joliet Police chief William Evans said the Federal Bureau of Investigation's fugitive task force was assisting local police in the search for the suspect.

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'Worst crime scene I have been been associated with'

During a news conference outside the homes on Monday evening, William Evans said, “I have been a policeman 29 years and this is probably the worst crime scene I have ever been associated with.”

Will County chief deputy Dan Jungles said deputies had been staking out one of the houses since Sunday evening in case the suspect in that day’s shootings returned to them. When no one showed, they finally went to the door of one of the houses. No one answered so they tried the other house, which they knew was linked to the first house and found the first bodies. Jungles didn’t offer any further details.

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Jungles also said he didn’t have any indications yet of how long the people in the houses had been dead, adding that autopsies were pending.

Evans said the victims were family members. When asked if the victims were members of the killer's family, Jungles said he couldn’t comment except to say that the suspect knew them.

In a Facebook post earlier on Monday afternoon, Joliet Police said they were investigating “multiple” people found dead and shared the man’s photo and images of a vehicle. Authorities identified the vehicle as a red Toyota Camry.

Earlier Monday, the Will County Sheriff’s Office shared images of the same car via Facebook and said it had been seen at the scenes of two separate shootings Sunday afternoon.

(With inputs from AP)

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