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Manhunt under way near Chicago for three suspected of killing police officer Manhunt under way near Chicago for three suspected of killing police officer
(about 5 hours later)
Police with helicopters, dogs and armed with rifles were conducting a massive manhunt in northern Illinois on Tuesday after an officer was shot and killed while pursuing a group of suspicious men. Police in helicopters armed with rifles and using sniffer dogs were conducting a massive manhunt in northern Illinois on Tuesday after an officer was fatally shot while pursuing a group of men.
The officer, who has not been identified publicly, radioed in to tell dispatchers he was chasing three men on foot in the city of Fox Lake, 55 miles north of Chicago. Communication with him was lost soon after, said Lake County sheriff’s office spokesman sergeant Christopher Covelli. The Fox Lake mayor, Donny Schmit, became emotional while describing the slain officer, Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, as a personal friend, a three-decade 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.”
Authorities said Gliniewicz radioed in to tell dispatchers he was chasing three men on foot in the village of Fox Lake, 55 miles (89km) north of Chicago. Communication with him was lost soon after, said Sergeant Christopher Covelli from the Lake county sheriff’s office .
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“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.”“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 the Chicago Tribune that the officer had also been stripped of his gun and other equipment. Undersheriff Raymond Rose told the Chicago Tribune that the officer had also been stripped of his gun and other equipment by the assailants.
Police and other law enforcement, some of them in military-style 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. Less than an hour’s drive from Chicago, the area is popular with boaters and for other outdoor pursuits because of its forest preserves and a chain of lakes that partly encircles Fox Lake. Some longtime city dwellers move to the region for what is normally a quieter lifestyle.
Nearby Grant community high school was placed on hard lockdown with children and staff instructed to say hidden and away from windows. Police and other law enforcement officials, some of them in military-style 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 continues to remain in a lockdown situation at the direction of the Fox Lake Police Department,” the school said in an update on its website. Nearby Grant Community High School was placed on lockdown with children and staff instructed to say hidden and away from windows, and Schmit said that other schools were also put on lockdown, as staffers went from room to room to make sure the children were safe.
It said all students and staff were safe, with administrators going from room to room. Authorities urged residents throughout the area to stay home while they conducted the search for three men, two of them white and the other black, using bloodhounds on the ground and helicopters above.
Authorities in Fox Lake have notified a number of other law enforcement agencies to ask for assistance, including the FBI, which is sending agents to help in the investigation. Cara Smith, chief strategist for the Cook County sheriff’s department, said two bloodhounds from the department were taken to the heavily wooded county to assist in the search. The service of a local commuter train was halted and residents who wanted to take their dogs out to relieve themselves were told to stay in their homes with the job of walking the dogs handled by police officers.