A manhunt launched after a police officer was fatally shot in northern Illinois stretched into a second day Wednesday, closing schools in the area as authorities continued looking for suspects.
Police said that Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, an officer in Fox Lake, Ill., was shot and killed Tuesday morning after he reported that he was on foot and chasing three possible suspects.
Gliniewicz was a father of four and a decorated officer known to many as âG.I. Joe,â Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit said at a news conference Tuesday.
âWe lost a family member,â Schmit said.
Local agencies and federal authorities combed the Fox Lake area after the shooting, sending waves of officers and police dogs out on the ground while helicopters skimmed overhead.
Fox Lake, a community of about 10,000 residents, is a little more than an hour north of downtown Chicago.
Several schools in the area said they would be closed Wednesday due to the continuing search. Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, which was locked down for much of the day Tuesday, announced that it would be closing after discussions with local officials.
School officials said in a statement that âwe have all decided that it is in the best interests of our students, the community, and law enforcement, to cancel school.â
The Big Hollow, Gavin and Fox Lake school districts also announced that they would be canceling classes because of the ongoing search.
âThank you for your patience and cooperation during this very difficult time for our community,â John Ahlemeyer, superintendent of Gavin School District 37, wrote in a message to parents announcing the cancellation of school. He added: âOnce again, thank you for your cooperation and patience as we pull together as a community on behalf of our children and each other.â
After Gliniewicz radioed in to say he was chasing three possible suspects shortly before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, contact with him was lost, and another officer found him with a gunshot wound, according to Chris Covelli, a Lake County Sheriffâs spokesman.
The three suspects were described only as two white men and a black man.
Schmit, the Fox Lake mayor, said that as the search unfolded, authorities would work to reassure residents that they were safe as the investigation continued.
âThe coming days will be even more difficult as we remember him as a police officer, a father and a member of our community,â Schmit said.
The sheriffâs office in neighboring McHenry County said it was asked to provide officers, armored vehicles, a SWAT team and police dogs. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives both said they were participating in the search, with the ATF deploying agents as well as dogs to help in the efforts.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it shut down the airspace over the manhunt on Tuesday afternoon at the request of the Fox Lake Police Department. This restriction bars any flight under 3,000 feet above the ground level where the search is taking place.
One of the stations on the Metra commuter rail system that was closed for much of the day Tuesday reopened for travelers on Wednesday. Metra closed the Ingleside station on the Milwaukee District North line, which runs between Fox Lake to Chicagoâs Union Station, until late Tuesday night.
âThe Milwaukee North Line has resumed normal operations,â Metra said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Other police departments sent the Fox Lake police condolences after the shooting:
Gliniewicz is the 24th police officer shot and killed by a suspect this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit organization that tracks line-of-duty fatalities.
While the number of police officers shot and killed is down from the same point last year, Gliniewiczâs death comes shortly after the high-profile killing of a Texas sheriffâs deputy who was gunned down while getting gas in suburban Houston.
That shooting drew renewed attention to the tension law enforcement officials say they feel amid ongoing protests against how police use deadly force.
Source: The Washington Post
