Bond set at $5 million for WeatherTech shooting suspect

A $5 million bond has been set for a temporary WeatherTech employee charged with murder Saturday after police say he shot three co-workers in Bolingbrook.

According to police, Charles McKnight admitted to them that he was the shooter. The event was recorded on surveillance video.

At Sunday's bond hearing, Will County Assistant State's Attorney Peter Wilkes said the state's evidence would show multiple witnesses at the scene of the shooting identified McKnight, 27, as the man who fatally shot Central Hightower, 37, of Plainfield, and wounded Curtis Moore III, 25, and Elvis Thomas, 43, at a WeatherTech facility in Bolingbrook.

Thomas was treated and released from the hospital, police said.

Moore was shot four times and is still at a hospital awaiting surgery, according to his father, Curtis Moore II.

Moore said he feels "pain and hurt because he's my only child." He said his son had been working as a temporary worker for WeatherTech for three to four weeks.

"He's a well-kept, good-hearted kid. He's not a street kid at all," Moore said of his son.

McKnight made his appearance on video from the Will County jail, where he's been since 6:51 p.m. Saturday, according to the county jail log. McKnight wore a blue face mask and jail uniform.

Wilkes told Judge Elizabeth Dow that Hightower and Moore were working on Saturday when they were involved in an altercation with McKnight in a bathroom inside the WeatherTech facility.

Hightower and Moore reported to other staff that McKnight stole a watch belonging to Moore and that he had a gun, he said.

Wilkes did not say during the hearing whether Hightower had been robbed as well. In a statement Saturday, Bolingbrook Police Chief Mike Rompa said two co-workers had been robbed by McKnight and that Moore was one of them. Bolingbrook police Capt. Anthony Columbus declined to answer further questions about the shooting Sunday.

Wilkes said that after Hightower and Moore reported the robbery, McKnight walked up to them, pulled out a handgun and shot Hightower at a close distance. Moore ran, McKnight gave chase and fired shots at Moore, he said. One of those shots hit Thomas, Wilkes said.

Following the shooting, officers were able to catch McKnight, who was found hiding in a pine tree in a backyard in the 500 block of Larkespur Lane, Wilkes said. The area is a short distance away from WeatherTech. Officers recovered the watch believed to have been stolen, he said.

In McKnight's interview with police, he admitted to being in altercation with Hightower and Moore in the bathroom and taking Moore's watch, Wilkes said.

"He stated this is the first time he ever shot anyone," Wilkes said.

Wilkes said the shooting had been captured on surveillance video.

Wilkes said McKnight has no past felony or misdemeanor convictions. He recommended a $5 million bond.

Dow agreed with Wilkes' recommended bond amount. She said she would impose the bond based on "the seriousness of the alleged crime," the fact that three people were shot and out of concern for public safety.

McKnight will have to post $500,000 of his $5 million bond for his release from jail.

McKnight was a temporary employment agency worker and was only assigned to the WeatherTech facility since June 9, Rompa said. The shooting does not appear to be premeditated.

Officers first arrived about 6:25 a.m. Saturday and found three victims with gunshot wounds, according to a Bolingbrook Police Department statement.

Columbus later said the shooter had been caught before 9:30 a.m. Police used dogs and drone technology to help find McKnight, according to a news release.

Columbus said the buildings at the WeatherTech complex are distribution and production facilities.