Man accused of killing eight people in Illinois was related to most of victims
A 23-year-old man who shot and killed eight people in suburban Chicago was related to most of the victims, authorities have said.
Romeo Nance fled to Texas following the shootings over the weekend and took his own life on Monday following a confrontation with law enforcement. Investigators said they are yet to establish a motive for his actions.
Authorities said they believe Nance first shot seven people at two relatives’ homes in the city of Joliet, Illinois, on Sunday, then fired randomly at two men — one outside an apartment building and another on a residential street.
Police said they had not yet determined the victims’ exact relationships to Nance.
On Tuesday, the Will County coroner identified the victims found at the Joliet homes as 38-year-old Christine Esters, 47-year-old Tamaeka Nance, 35-year-old William Esters II, 31-year-old Joshua Nance and 20-year-old Alexandria Nance.
The names of two teenage girls, 14 and 16 respectively, were not released.
Authorities previously identified the man killed outside the apartment building as Toyosi Bakare, a 28-year-old man originally from Nigeria who had been living in the US for about three years.
Nance fatally shot himself Monday evening after US Marshals located him near Natalia, Texas, about 30 miles southwest of San Antonio and more than 1,000 miles from where the shootings had taken place.
He had no known ties to Texas, Illinois authorities confirmed Tuesday, though it is suspected he may have been attempting to flee to Mexico.
“It seems like they (criminal suspects) all head to Mexico,” Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said.
Officers from multiple agencies confronted Nance, Mr Brown said.
The Illinois shootings represent the fourth mass killing in the US this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in a partnership with Northeastern University.
The third happened Sunday in another Chicago-area suburb, Tinley Park, where police have charged a 63-year-old man with killing his wife and three adult daughters.
The database defines a mass killing as an attack in which four or more people have died, not including the perpetrator, within a 24-hour period.
The victims were found Sunday and Monday at three separate homes, authorities told reporters at a news conference earlier Monday evening.
But the motive remains a mystery. “We can’t get inside his head,” Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans told reporters. “We just don’t have any clue as to why he did what he did.”
He added: “I’ve been a policeman 29 years and this is probably the worst crime scene I’ve ever been associated with.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.
