Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit: Village has been victim of criminal activity

Editor's note: This is a message from Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit about the Gliniewicz investigation.

These last 60 days have taken a toll on our community like never before. For two months our residents were left with few answers about what took place the morning of September 1 in our community.

We were also left to wonder whether there were cop killers in our midst. That has left our community unsettled and uneasy.

We are pleased to have finally reached some resolution regarding Lt. Gliniewicz's untimely death.

We know that today's news has been very difficult to take for our employees and our community.

We know that learning that the Village has been the victim of criminal activity is tough news to hear.

But during this time, as our community's elected and appointed leaders, we must lead and we must show that we are united in our goal to get at the truth, wherever it may lead.

The Village fully supports efforts to hold wrongdoers accountable and that we will continue to assist investigators at every turn, as we have done since September 1.

The Village is eager to see this investigation move forward in a timely way and will be urging investigators to be thorough, but to also be expedient in their efforts.

As I have repeatedly stated, I have had and continue to have complete confidence in the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and the Lake County Coroner's Office. They all deserve our thanks. They have worked very hard on what is clearly an increasingly complex investigation. We are grateful for their assistance on this case and they have our commitment to continue to assist them in any way.

I ask our residents to be patient and allow the investigations to continue. The amount of evidence that has been examined is enormous. We are still conducting audits of our policies and procedures that will take time. I would rather have a thorough investigation of our practices than a hasty one.

On a personnel note, I lost a friend. While this friend may not have been perfect, he was still a friend. In the past 30 years, he has been a part of our Village and helped many of our youth. So while he had some flaws, he also did a lot of good.

Over the past two plus months, in my head, I have tried to go over every possible scenario. Though suicide had been mentioned, almost from the start, I never really thought it was a possibility. Suicide is a constant fact of life for our Police, Fire and Military. 22 veterans take their life every day. It is my hope that anyone considering this permanent solution to a temporary problem seeks help. If one person is able to learn from this and seek help in their time of need, then possibly a bit of good can come from this.

Finally, I can't begin to say how proud I am of this Village and its residents. We came together as a community to support our Police and Fire Departments. People just wanted to know what they could do to help. The donations of food, water and offers of help were endless. These selfless acts of humanity define our community. While the revelations today were shocking, I'm still proud to say I'm from Fox Lake.

Donny Schmit

Mayor, Village of Fox Lake