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.
The suspect, identified as 23-year-old Romeo Nance, is considered armed and dangerous. A motive for the killings remain unclear, but authorities said the suspect knows the victims.
One of those victims 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.
“I’ve been a policeman 29 years and this is probably the worst crime scene I’ve ever been associated with,” Evans said during a Monday evening news conference.
Asked if the victims were members of the suspect’s family, Will County Chief Deputy Dan 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 said he died from his injuries.
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 approximately 2 miles away. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies had been keeping an eye on Nance’s house overnight because his car was allegedly spotted at each of the shooting scenes on Sunday. When he never came home, deputies grew suspicious and started knocking on the door.
After approaching the home just before noon, authorities discovered blood and went inside. That’s when they found the victims.
Nance is believed to be driving a red Toyota Camry, with license plate number Q73 041.
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 story.