Advertisement

Schools close as Illinois police search for suspects in officer shooting

By Tomas Monzon
Fox Lake police Lt. Joseph "Joe" Gliniewicz. Photo courtesy Lake County, Ill., Sheriff's Office
Fox Lake police Lt. Joseph "Joe" Gliniewicz. Photo courtesy Lake County, Ill., Sheriff's Office

FOX LAKE, Ill., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Several school districts in Illinois closed campuses Wednesday as police search for three people accused of fatally shooting a Fox Lake officer one day earlier.

Fox Lake District 114, Saint Bede Catholic School, Big Hollow DIstrict 38, Gavin District 37, Grant High School and more all announced that they would be closed Wednesday.

Advertisement

Law enforcement officials were searching Lake County for three suspects -- two white men and one black man -- believed to be responsible for the fatal shooting of police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a 30-year veteran whose job it was to train prospective police officers.

Gliniewicz was on patrol around 8 a.m. when he reported to dispatch that he was responding to suspicious activity in Lake County. He started a foot pursuit and was never heard from again until he was found by officers shot in a marsh near U.S. Highway 12.

More than 100 officers were involved in the search, which bore on overnight as officers wearing body armor and carrying rifles combed the area with helicopters searching from above. The officers were searching door-to-door for the suspects, about whom they have limited information.

Advertisement

The officers were also being assisted directly or indirectly by police officers from other agencies including remote police forces, the FBI and the Secret Service.

Gliniewicz served in the Army and worked with Fox Lake's police explorers program, which affords young people the opportunity to experience law enforcement up close. His death marks the first police killing in Lake County since 1980. Homicides in general are rare in the area -- Illinois State Police data show one has not occurred there in several years.

Flags were flown at half-staff this morning outside the local police department in honor of Gliniewicz.

Latest Headlines