Illinois policeman fatally shot with his own gun: police

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[October 02, 2015]  By Suzannah Gonzales
 
 CHICAGO (Reuters) - A northern Illinois policeman killed in early September was fatally shot with his own weapon after a struggle, a police commander told a news conference on Thursday.

The death of Fox Lake Police Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz is a homicide investigation but the possibility of suicide had not been ruled out, Lake County Major Crime Task Force Commander George Filenko said.

The shooting drew hundreds of local, state and federal officers to search in and around Fox Lake, which is about 60 miles (97 km) north of Chicago near the Wisconsin border.

Gliniewicz was shot twice with his weapon, once in the right side of the front of his protective vest, which was severe enough to incapacitate him, and the other, believed to be the fatal wound, struck him in the upper left chest, Filenko said.

Gunshot residue tests showed that weapon could have been fired by Gliniewicz, or that he could have been in the close proximity of the weapon, Filenko said.

"It's inconclusive," Filenko said. "At this point, we have no motive."

Authorities found nine unknown DNA samples at the crime scene on a variety of items in Gliniewicz's possession, Filenko said.

Police have said Gliniewicz was pursuing three suspects, who he described as two white men and a black man, on foot in a remote area when he was shot. It's the only description of the suspects officials have, Filenko said on Thursday.

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Gliniewicz initially declined a dispatcher's offer to send more officers, then accepted an offer for a second unit to be sent when the dispatcher asked again, Filenko said.

He had been walking in the area for about 20 minutes before making the call to dispatchers, Filenko said.

Several weeks before the shooting, Gliniewicz had met with village officials about complaints of vandalism, squatters and suspicious activity in that area and took responsibility to investigate, Filenko said.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Editing by Susan Heavey and Bill Trott)

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