advertisement

Suspect shot by Wauconda police dies in hospital

An armed man was shot by police Monday and later died after a confrontation at a house in Wauconda, authorities said.

The shooting took place just after noon on the 100 block of Slocum Lake Road, west of Main Street.

Officers were responding to a report from a man who claimed his roommate may be wanted by police and in possession of a stolen vehicle, police said in a release Monday night.

Officers went to the house to investigate the claims and were confronted by a 36-year-old man with a handgun. After the man refused to put down the weapon, officers shot him.

The man was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he later died from his injuries. Police are not releasing his name until his family is notified.

No officers were hurt, police said.

Wauconda Middle School, Wauconda Grade School and Wauconda High School were locked down for about 20 minutes because of the shooting, Wauconda Unit District 118 Superintendent Dan Coles said.

The grade school and middle school are near where the shooting occurred. The middle school is a few hundred yards away.

By 1:30 p.m., however, students and staffers at the three schools had resumed their normal activities, Coles said. Students were released at the end of their respective school days, although traffic was routed away from the scene of the shooting.

"Everybody's fine," Coles said.

As of midafternoon, the two-story house was blocked off with yellow police tape, and police cars blocked Slocum Lake Road at Main Street and Osage Street. Neighbors stood around looking at the action as police conducted interviews.

Detectives canvassed the neighborhood, going house to house to talk to potential witnesses. Wauconda police are being assisted by the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.

One Slocum Lake Road resident, who declined to give his name, said he heard the gunshots.

"I thought a truck dropped a load of lumber," he said. "That's what it sounded like - a bunch of lumber hitting the ground."

A woman who lives a few doors away was digging outside her house in preparation for some gardening when she heard three gunshots.

"I thought it was firecrackers," said the woman, who declined to give her name. "Like somebody lit a firecracker and it went bang, bang, bang."

The woman described the neighborhood as very quiet and peaceful.

"Things like this don't happen here," she said.

Monday's police-involved shooting in Wauconda was the second in the Northwest suburbs in the past month.

Erdenebileg Sambuunyam, 40, of Buffalo Grove was killed by two Sleepy Hollow officers March 9 after he attempted to cut them with a knife outside a home on the 1800 block of Maple Lane, authorities said.

While Illinois State Police continue to investigate the shooting, Sleepy Hollow's police chief allowed the officers to return to work March 26.

  Police officials investigate a shooting Monday on the 100 block of Slocum Lake Road in Wauconda. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  Lake County sheriff's department and Wauconda police investigate a shooting involving Wauconda police officers Monday on the 100 block of Slocum Lake Road. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.