3 suspects are sought after Illinois cop slain
FOX LAKE, Ill. — Police in helicopters, with dogs and armed with rifles were conducting a massive manhunt in northern Illinois on Tuesday after an officer was fatally shot while pursuing a group of men.
An emotional Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit described the slain officer, Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, as a personal friend, a threedecade member of the department and a father of four sons.
“We lost a family member,” Schmit said of the 52-year-old officer known around town as “GI Joe.” “His commitment to the people of this community has been unmatched and will be dearly missed.”
The veteran officer had also indicated he was planning to retire later this month, Schmit said.
Authorities said Gliniewicz radioed in Tuesday morning to tell dispatchers he was chasing three men on foot in the village of Fox Lake, which is about 55 miles northwest of Chicago. Communication with him was lost soon after, said Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli.
“His backup arrived shortly thereafter and found him injured with a gunshot wound,” Covelli said. “The officer has succumbed to his injuries and passed away.”
Undersheriff Raymond Rose told Tribune Newspapers that the officer had also been stripped of his gun and other equipment.
Police and other law enforcement officials, some of them in camouflage, were seen taking up positions on rooftops and along railroad tracks, scanning the terrain with rifle scopes and binoculars. Others leaned out of helicopters with weapons at the ready.
Grant Community High School in Fox Lake was placed on lockdown with students and staff instructed to stay hidden and away from windows, and Schmit said other schools were also put on lockdown. Parents were asked to pick up their children from school.
Authorities urged residents throughout the area to stay home while they conducted the search for three men, two described as white and the other black, using bloodhounds on the ground and helicopters above. Local commuter train service was halted for hours and residents who wanted to take their dogs out were told to stay in their homes — with the job of walking the dogs handled by police officers.
Gliniewicz’s death is the third law enforcement fatality in Illinois this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Less than an hour’s drive from Chicago, the Fox Lake area is popular with boaters and for other outdoor pursuits because of its forest preserves and a chain of lakes that partly encircles the village.
Around Fox Lake on Tuesday, residents expressed sorrow over the death of Gliniewicz.
“This particular officer is a pillar in my community and definitely going to be missed, and (he) touched so many lives,” said Gina Maria, a 40-year-old teacher who lives in the community.
Tribune Newspapers contributed.