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McHenry sheriff: Shooter ready to 'finish off' wounded deputies

Shooter was ready to 'finish off' pair, Nygren says

Editor's note: The name of Island Lake police officer Gilbert Hueramo was misspelled in earlier versions of this report.

Nothing could have prepared two McHenry County deputies for what they were walking into.

The call was nothing out of the ordinary - a domestic dispute in the wee hours Thursday in the quiet wooded suburb of Holiday Hills, population 595.

The officers' knocks in the pitch darkness were greeted with a barrage of fire from within. They went down immediately, hit by numerous rounds of a .223-caliber AR15 rifle, police said.

Despite the harsh, unwanted surprise, the fear of being killed in the line of duty is always present, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said Monday.

"I think that we're always apprehensive," Nygren said. "If you're not scared, there's something wrong with you. Fear is not really a bad emotion because it prepares you to take action. You are either going to run or hunker down and survive it."

And survive they did, owing to the heroic efforts of another sheriff's deputy and two Island Lake police officers, Nygren said.

Khalia Satkiewicz, 39, a 12-year veteran of the force, was shot in the right leg and underwent surgery at Centegra Hospital-McHenry. She is now recovering at home. Dwight Maness, 46, a seven-year veteran who was shot in the abdomen and the leg, is at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville awaiting additional surgeries.

The man accused of shooting them, Scott B. Peters, was captured after a 16-hour manhunt. He is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Nygren said the actions of the third deputy, Eric Luna, who arrived at the house moments behind Satkiewicz and Maness, probably saved the wounded deputies' lives.

He said Luna drew his weapon as Peters opened the front door and was raring to unleash another round of shots at the downed deputies.

"The officers were conscious but probably incapacitated," Nygren said. "(Luna) then engaged the offender, forcing him back into the house, or I'm sure he would have finished the job on the two officers who were on the ground."

Peters retreated into his home. The wounded deputies were rescued by two Island Lake officers - Gilbert Hueramo and Victoria Gwizdak - who responded to a call for help from the s cene after the shooting began, Nygren said.

Maness was bleeding profusely.

"One of the Island Lake officers (Hueramo) put a tourniquet on him to slow the bleeding down and dragged him out of the field of fire," Nygren said. "He would have bled out, if this officer hadn't put on a tourniquet."

Meanwhile, Gwizdak pulled Satkiewicz away from the house. Both deputies were "literally dragged" to an ambulance, Nygren said.

"They did as much as Deputy Luna did to save the lives of these two wounded officers ... without any thought to their own personal safety and without any reservation," Nygren said.

"We train over and over again for situations like this," Nygren said. "Different people respond in different ways to these kinds of situations. You react the way you are trained to react. You almost don't think about it, because if you have to think, it's too late."

Nygren said it's not just first responders but everyone involved, from the dispatch operators to the support staff, who is affected by such shootings. He said his entire department is dealing with the emotional toll and will receive psychological support and trauma counseling.

"It's a total departmental response and not just the police officers who are on the ground," Nygren said. "It's traumatic for everybody."

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  Illinois State Police officers search an RV for Scott B. Peters, 52, who was wanted in the shooting of two McHenry County sheriff's deputies in a Holiday Hills subdivision last Thursday. Peters, 52, was arrested after a 16-hour manhunt. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Khalia Satkiewicz, 39, is a McHenry County sheriff's deputy who was shot in the leg in Holiday Hills last Thursday.
Dwight Maness, 46, is a McHenry County sheriff's deputy who was shot in the abdomen and the leg in Holiday Hills last Thursday.
Two Island Lake police officers - Gilbert Hueramo and Victoria Gwizdak - who responded to a call for help after two McHenry County deputies were shot. Courtesy of Victoria Gwidzak
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