Fugitive fatally shot by police in Beach Park
A fugitive wanted for murder was fatally shot by police Tuesday after he opened fire on officers in North suburban Beach Park, authorities said.
The 24-year-old man's identity was not immediately released by police. He was wanted on a warrant stemming from the December 2018 shooting death of an 18-year-old in Zion, Sgt. Chris Covelli of the Lake County sheriff's office said.
The shootout began about 12:30 p.m. outside a house on the 38500 block of North Green Bay Road. Police had learned the fugitive had stayed at the house in the past and likely was there Tuesday, Covelli said.
Members of the sheriff's warrants team and a regional U.S. marshal's fugitive task force were approaching the house when the fugitive got out of a vehicle in the driveway and shot at them with a pistol, officials said.
Two members of the warrants team returned fire, fatally wounding the fugitive, Covelli said. One team member is a Lake County sheriff's deputy and the other is with the McHenry County sheriff's office, Covelli said.
Police performed CPR and first aid until paramedics arrived, authorities said. The man was taken to Vista East Hospital in Waukegan and pronounced dead.
The McHenry County deputy was taken to a hospital with a cut on his arm, Covelli said. The other deputy who shot at the fugitive was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
A person who was in the house was taken to a hospital as a precaution, too, Covelli said.
Following protocol for officer-involved shootings, the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force is investigating.
The Lake County deputy who was involved in the shooting has been placed on paid leave while the shooting is investigated. A McHenry County sheriff's spokeswoman couldn't be reached to discuss the condition or duty status of the other deputy.
An autopsy by the Lake County coroner's office is expected Wednesday morning.
The fugitive was black. The deputies who shot at him both are white men, Covelli said. The shootout occurred during a period of heightened tensions between police and civilians around the world over law enforcement's use of force against black people in the U.S.