Suspect in killing of 8 people in suburban Chicago has fatally shot himself in Texas, police say

CHICAGO (AP) — A man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in suburban Chicago fatally shot himself after a confrontation with law enforcement officials in Texas, police said. Police in Joliet, Illinois, said on Facebook that at about 8:30 p.m. Monday 23-year-old Romeo Nance was located by U.S. Marshals near Natalia, Texas, and that Nance shot himself after a confrontation.

The Medina County Sheriff’s Office in Texas said on Facebook that the agency received a call about a person suspected in the Chicago-area killings heading into the county on Interstate 35. A standoff then occurred between Nance and police from multiple agencies at a gas station, where Nance shot himself, the sheriff’s office said.

Nance is suspected of fatally shooting eight people at three locations in the Chicago suburbs, sparking a search that left neighbors on edge earlier Monday as police warned he was still on the loose and should be considered “armed and dangerous.”

Police in Will County in Illinois and Joliet previously said they did not know of a motive for the killings, but said Nance knew the victims. The FBI’s fugitive task force had been assisting local police in the search for the suspect, Joliet Police Chief William Evans said.

One of the people killed was found with an apparent gunshot wound Sunday outside of apartments in Will County and pronounced dead at a hospital. He was identified by the Will County Sheriff’s Office as a 28-year-old man originally from Nigeria who had been living in the U.S. for about three years.

Seven others were found Monday at two homes on the same block in Joliet, located about about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) northwest of the scene police discovered first.

Authorities said they also believe Nance was connected to another shooting in Joliet that wounded a man on Sunday but would not discuss their evidence.

“I’ve been a policeman 29 years and this is probably the worst crime scene I’ve ever been associated with,” Evans said during a news conference outside the Joliet homes Monday evening.Joliet Police said in a Facebook post earlier on Monday afternoon that they were investigating “multiple” people found dead and shared Nance’s photo and images of a vehicle. Authorities identified the vehicle as a red Toyota Camry.

By Associated Press