Cops: Will Co. robbery tied to shooting spree

The Will County Sheriff's office says it has a major announcement about a shooting spree in October along the Illinois-Indiana border.

Sheriff's department spokesman Ken Kaupas tells the Associated Press that authorities from Will County, Lake County, Ind., and Orland Park, Ill. will hold a news conference on the case at 2 p.m. Thursday in Joliet.

A law enforcement officer confirmed Tuesday that a handgun used by 48-year-old Gary Amaya of Rankin, Ill., who was killed by a customer as he tried to rob an Orland Park tanning salon over the weekend matches the gun used in the spree.

But as of Wednesday evening, Will County authorities had declined to say if Amaya was suspected of the Oct. 5 shootings that left one dead and two wounded.