‘He always wanted to be a state trooper’
Mother at a loss after retired son killed in Lisle cigar lounge
Gregory Rieves wanted to become an Illinois State Police trooper since he was a boy.
“I don’t know why,” his mother, Hattie Rieves, said Saturday. “He always wanted to be a state trooper. … He loved his job, he was always happy.”
Rieves retired last year after a 22-year career with the Illinois State Police. Friday night, he was in a cigar lounge in Lisle with another retired trooper and an off-duty trooper when a woman behind them stood up and started firing, according to police.
Rieves, 51, was shot dead. The two men with him were seriously wounded: retired Trooper Lloyd Graham, 55, and off-duty Trooper Kaiton Bullock, 48.
The shooter, Lisa V. McMullan, 51, turned the gun on herself and
died at the scene, police said.
“We have no idea why this happened,” Lisle’s acting police chief, Ron Wilke, told reporters outside the Humidor, at 1600 Ogden Ave., hours after the shooting. “I believe they know each other.”
McMullan, of Hyde Park, has no known criminal history, according to the Lisle Police Department. She had a valid firearm owner’s identification card and concealed carry license through the Illinois State Police.
McMullan and Rieves went to Proviso East High School in Maywood together in the 1980s. Police still have not determined if they were ever more than just acquaintances, but they also both have been known to frequent the Humidor of Lisle at the same time, according to officials.
Surveillance video shows McMullan sitting behind the three men in a “media room,” watching a big-screen television. Around 10:10 p.m., she stands up, draws a handgun and fires shots at the three “without apparent provocation,” according to the Lisle Police Department. McMullan shot one of the men in the back of the head and then fired several rounds at the two others before shooting herself.
Seven bullets, including one she used on herself, were fired by McMullan during the incident, police said.
Rieves was pronounced dead at a hospital. Graham and Bullock were taken to Edward Hospital and Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in serious condition. State police Director Brendan F. Kelly said Saturday that they were recovering and were “surrounded by loved ones.”
He said Rieves was “well-loved by all those who worked with him.” Rieves was the father of a 23-year-old son.
Rieves’ mother said she does not know McMullan or why she would have shot her son. “I only know what I saw on the news. I have no idea what happened,” she said. “I never knew him to have anything against anybody.
“He had a tough job, I was very concerned about it,” she added. “But he didn’t worry.”
Rieves said she last saw her son three weeks ago. “The last time I saw him was on my birthday when he brought me a bouquet.”
She said his friends have been calling the family home all day Saturday. “He was a very, very good guy,” said Rieves, 81.
Her son had another passion in life: baseball. “When he was little, I would take him to games.” Rieves continued to play on teams after finishing school.
“He did have a good life,” she said. “A life that he loved.”