23 January 2024
JOLIET, Ill. (WGN) — Police are searching for a suspect after eight people were shot and killed at three locations in the Chicago suburbs over the past two days, Illinois authorities said.
The victims were found Sunday and Monday at three separate locations, authorities told reporters Monday evening, several hours after warning on social media that the man should be considered “armed and dangerous.”
A manhunt is underway for suspect Romeo Nance, 23, as detectives conduct homicide investigations at two houses.
Nance is believed to be driving a red Toyota Camry, with license plate number Q73 0412, police said.
Police in the city of Joliet and Will County said they did not know of a motive for the killings. Authorities said the man knows the victims.
One of the people killed was found Sunday in a home in Will County. Seven others were found Monday at two homes in Joliet.
Joliet Police Chief William Evans said the victims in the houses were family members. Asked if the victims were members of the suspect’s family, Jungles said he couldn’t comment except to say that the suspect knew them.
Will County deputies said they were called to an apartment complex in Joliet just before 4:30 p.m. Sunday, where they found a man bleeding from the head from an apparent gunshot wound. Deputies say he later died.
The victim was later identified as Toyosi Bakare, 28, who was originally from Nigeria and had been living in the U.S. for about three years.
According to deputies, about 10 minutes before the fatal shooting, a 42-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 200 Block of Davis Street. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The FBI’s fugitive task force was assisting local police in the search for the suspect, Joliet Police Chief William Evans said.
According to the Patch and court records, Nance was charged about a year ago after he allegedly tried to shoot a woman multiple times on Ingalls Avenue and at a home in Joliet. Police later found Nance near his home and arrested him after a brief struggle with officers.
He was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated assault, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm.
According to court documents, he was released after posting $10,000 of a $100,000 bond.
Nance’s attorney sought a further reduction of bond that Will County prosecutors opposed and a judge denied the change, according to a spokesperson for the state’s attorney. Nance showed-up for subsequent court hearings, the state’s attorney said.
That case has yet to go to trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.