[Ang]

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/2776406,...hooting.article

Gunman goes on rural rampage
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October 5, 2010

BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY
One man was killed and two others wounded Tuesday as part of an apparently random rural shooting spree that left police in two states searching for the unknown gunman.

The shooter started his rampage about 10:30 a.m. near Beecher when he approached a group of men working to repair a house and, after some brief conversation, opened fire. Police believe the man then drove his pickup truck into Lake County, Ind., where he shot a farmer on the side of a road.

» Click to enlarge image

Will County sheriff's police investigate the scene where two men were shot Tuesday at Stony Island Avenue and County Line Road near Beecher.

(Joseph P. Meier/SouthtownStar)
PHOTO GALLERY


Two-state shooting spree

He remained at large as of late Tuesday night.

"This is scary," said Julie Reichers, a code enforcement officer for Beecher, who said the shooting occurred at her grandmother's house, which was undergoing renovations after a recent fire.

At the house, Rolando Alonso, 45, of Hammond, Ind., died from a gunshot wound, and Joshua Garza, 19, also of Hammond, was shot in the head and stomach, Will County sheriff's police said. A third man working at the site on Stony Island Avenue, just north of the Will-Kankakee county line, fled to a nearby cornfield and phoned police, Kaupas said.

Police said the workers were employed by Rich Construction, of Dyer, Ind. The company declined to comment.

Alonso was dead at the scene, and Garza was airlifted in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The shooter - whom police described as a heavyset white man in his 40s, weighing about 245 pounds, with brown hair and wearing a baseball cap - then drove into Indiana, where he shot farmer Keith Dahl, 64, in his left shoulder, arm and elbow, authorities said. Dahl was hospitalized in stable condition at St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point.

The shooter was last seen heading north on Cline Avenue in nearby Lowell, Ind., officials said.

"This was totally random," said Pat Barry, spokesman for the Will County sheriff's police. "It does not appear that anyone at the scene knew him."

Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez said a man pulled into Dahl's driveway near 201st Street and Cline Avenue about 11:30 a.m., started talking to him and then pulled out a weapon and fired six shots, four of which hit Dahl.

The shootings triggered school officials in the Tri-Creek School Corp. and the Hanover Central Community School Corp. to lock schools down. All extracurricular activities were canceled. Dominguez issued an all-points bulletin throughout Northwest Indiana, south to Lafayette and from the Indiana-Illinois state line to South Bend.

"We have a very dangerous situation," he said.

Reichers said she "freaked out" when she heard the call come in over the scanner between 10 and 10:30 a.m. with a familiar address. Crews from Rich Construction had been restoring her grandmother's home, and her grandmother had been staying with relatives nearby, Reichers said.

Kaupas said the men were working on the burned-out house when the shooter came in and asked whether they planned to sell the home after they finished repairs. The man left and came back a short time later and asked if they had any plywood, the sheriff said.

"With that, he opened fire," Kaupas said.

He said the worker who fled and later phoned police from a hiding spot in the nearby cornfield was shot at "several times" but was not hit.

Within an hour, the shooter was in Indiana, where he stopped Dahl, asking him if he knew of anywhere in the area where he could keep bees, Kaupas said.

"The guy wrote a name and a phone number on a piece of paper - which does not check out - handed it to the farmer and then opened fire," he said. "The farmer played dead."

Dahl's wallet also was stolen. Police believe either a .38-caliber or a .357-caliber gun was used in both shootings, Kaupas said, adding that there did seem to be any motive in either shooting.

Residents who see anyone matching the shooter's description should call 911, Kaupas said.

"Do not approach," he said.

CONTRIBUTING: STAFF WRITER JOE BIESK; POST-TRIBUNE OF NORTHWEST INDIANA

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/2776414,...tingweb.article

Search continues for rampage shooter
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October 6, 2010

BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY
One man was killed and two others wounded Tuesday as part of an apparently random rural shooting spree that left police in two states searching for the unknown gunman.

The shooter started his rampage about 10:30 a.m. near Beecher when he approached a group of men working to repair a house and, after some brief conversation, opened fire. Police believe the man then drove his pickup truck into Lake County, Ind., where he shot a farmer on the side of a road.

» Click to enlarge image

Will County sheriff's police investigate the scene where two men were shot Tuesday at Stony Island Avenue and State Line Road near Beecher. Authorities released a sketch of the gunman (inset).
(Photo by Joseph P. Meier/SouthtownStar)

» Click to enlarge image

The man sought in connection with shootings in Illinois and Indiana is described as a heavyset white man in his 40s, weighing about 245 pounds and with brown hair.
PHOTO GALLERY


Two-state shooting spree


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• Search continues in Indiana
• Lowell shocked by shooting
Shooting spree

View Shooting spree in a larger map He remained at large as of late Tuesday night.

"This is scary," said Julie Reichers, a code enforcement officer for Beecher, who said the shooting occurred at her grandmother's house, which was undergoing renovations after a recent fire.

At the house, Rolando Alonso, 45, of Hammond, Ind., died from a gunshot wound, and Joshua Garza, 19, also of Hammond, was shot in the head and stomach, Will County sheriff's police said. A third man working at the site on Stony Island Avenue, just north of the Will-Kankakee county line, fled to a nearby cornfield and phoned police, Kaupas said.

Police said the workers were employed by Rich Construction, of Dyer, Ind. The company declined to comment.

Alonso was dead at the scene, and Garza was airlifted in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The shooter - whom police described as a heavyset white man in his 40s, weighing about 245 pounds, with brown hair and wearing a baseball cap - then drove into Indiana, where he shot farmer Keith Dahl, 64, in his left shoulder, arm and elbow, authorities said. Dahl was hospitalized in stable condition at St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point.

The shooter was last seen heading north on Cline Avenue in nearby Lowell, Ind., officials said.

"This was totally random," said Pat Barry, spokesman for the Will County sheriff's police. "It does not appear that anyone at the scene knew him.".........

[taxthedeer]

They said on the news that both times the gunman approached the victims and asked them about bees.

I wonder if this is connected to the shootings that happened a couple weeks ago in Boone Grove and Lakes of the Four Seasons.