DIXON, Ill. (WTVO) — Three deputies and the suspected gunman were shot and injured after officers responded to a home inside a gated community in northern Illinois Wednesday, authorities said.
Law enforcement went to the Lost Lake gated community near Dixon after being told just before 8:40 a.m. CT that someone was threatening to kill themself or others, according to Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle.
He said the SWAT team responded and hostage negotiators tried repeatedly to make contact with the person, without success.
“At 11:51, due to the lack of communication, it was determined that our emergency response team would enter the house and determine the wellbeing of that individual,” VanVickles said. “Immediately upon entering the house, our deputies were struck by gunfire.”
Three victims were transported to Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon, according to Nancy Varga, Chief of Staff. VanVickle said during a 3:30 p.m. CT press conference that the deputies and the suspect, who wasn’t identified, were all alive.
Multiple agencies, including the Ogle County Sheriff and first responders from Dixon, Oregon, Mount Morris, and Polo were called to the scene.
VanVickle said during the press conference that the sheriff’s office requested that the state police take over the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
Aerial video by local media Wednesday afternoon showed law enforcement and personal cars parked on the side of unpaved roads throughout the neighborhood and officials occasionally gathering in small groups but little ongoing activity. Yellow police tape blocked at least one driveway and an Ogle County sheriff’s mobile command center was parked at the end of the drive.
Lost Lake’s property owner’s association describes the area as a “country style community” with about 700 owners in an unincorporated area close to the cities of Dixon, Franklin Grove and Oregon, about 105 miles (168 kilometers) west of Chicago.
This is a developing story; the Associated Press contributed to this report.
