Illinois Shooting Suspect Found Dead in Texas After Killing 8 People in Various Locations

In a span of two days, the city of Joliet, Illinois, was rocked by a series of horrifying events, leaving eight people dead and the alleged perpetrator, 23-year-old Romeo Nance, found dead in Texas in what appears to be a suicide, according to Yahoo! News.

The grim discovery of the Illinois shooting suspect's lifeless body followed an intense manhunt conducted by various law enforcement agencies.

Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans addressed the media during a news conference, revealing that the Will County Sheriff's office had alerted his officers at 12:04 PM on Monday about multiple fatalities in two separate residences on West Acres Road near Madison Street.

Responding officers uncovered a chilling scene, finding seven individuals in two houses who had all succumbed to gunshot wounds.

Nance, the primary Illinois shooting suspect, was quickly identified, and authorities began the search for him, suspecting him to be driving a red Toyota Camry.

Evans mentioned that Nance was familiar with the victims found in the houses, all of whom were believed to be related.

The tragic string of events began with an earlier shooting, where a man lost his life just outside Joliet, Illinois, linking back to Nance through the association with the red Toyota Camry.

Discovery of Earlier Incidents

The Will County Sheriff's office reported responding to an emergency call at Pheasant Run Apartments in Joliet Township on Sunday, per ABC News.

The call led them to 28-year-old Toyosi Bakare, who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Another incident an hour earlier in the 200 block of Davis Street involved a 42-year-old man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.

"During this investigation, Detectives quickly identified 23-year-old Romeo Nance as a suspect in the homicides on West Acres Road, and it was believed that he was also involved in a fatal shooting being investigated by the Will County Sheriff's Office as well as a non-fatal shooting in Joliet," authorities said, adding that those shootings took place on January 21.

Detectives swiftly connected Nance to these incidents and the subsequent homicides on West Acres Road.

The motive behind these senseless acts remains elusive, with authorities acknowledging that the truth might never be fully understood.

"We can't get inside his head," Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans similarly noted, stating that they do not have any clue as to why the Illinois shooting suspect committed the killings.

Victims Identified, Illinois Shooting Suspect Found Dead

The victims have been identified as Christine Esters, 38, Tamaeka Nance, 47, William Esters, 35, Joshua Nance, 31, and Alexandria Nance, 20. Two teenage girls, aged 14 and 16, remain unnamed.

Meanwhile, Bakare, originally from Nigeria, had been living in the US for three years, BBC noted.

A video depicting the confrontation between Bakare and the driver of a red Toyota Camry surfaced, capturing the chilling moments before the fatal shots were fired.

The license plate on the Camry led authorities to Nance and the locations where additional victims were found.

As the manhunt intensified, Nance managed to evade the authorities, fleeing south.

Eventually, US Marshals located him near Natalia, Texas, approximately 1,200 miles away from Joliet, Illinois, where he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"I've been a policeman for 29 years, and this is probably the worst crime scene I've ever been associated with," remarked Chief Evans, underscoring the gravity of the situation during an earlier news conference in Joliet.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: 9 shot, 8 fatally, by same man across 4 crime scenes in Joliet area: police - From ABC 7 Chicago