Two arrested after two men are killed and one is critically wounded in shootout in front of Illinois COURTHOUSE
A brazen, daylight gunfight outside an Illinois courthouse Thursday killed two men and injured another, police say.
The 9:15 a.m. shootout in Kankakee, Illinois, began when Antonio Hernandez ambushed two men who were leaving Kankakee County Courthouse and walking toward the parking lot, police said.
Hernandez' targets were relatives Victor Andrade and Miguel Andrade, who were leaving a court hearing unrelated to the shooting, said Kankakee Police Chief Robin Passwater.
Hernandez fired a fatal shot at Victor Andrade, while Miguel Andrade ran to his car to fetch his gun and return fire. He killed Hernandez, police said.
Passwater said the three men belonged to the same gang, and the violence appeared to be the result of some unresolved, internal conflict.
'I’m thankful there wasn’t more victims today,' Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis told reporters. 'There’s a lot of people who went to the courthouse at this time and it could’ve been a lot worse.’
A third shooting victim was being treated at a local hospital, and was not a member of the gang.
‘It’s a tragic event for the people of the City of Kankakee,’ Passwater said. ‘We’re going to do our best to solve it.’
A local resident who heard gunfire said he looked out his nearby window to see one man lying unresponsive on the street. Another, he said, was motionless in a nearby parking lot.
A shooting Thursday morning outside a Kankakee, Illinois, courthouse killed two men
A third man was taken to hospital in an undisclosed condition, where he underwent surgery
‘It was easy to assume that, unfortunately, the worst had happened to them,’ the witness told ABC7.
‘Cops started pouring out of the courthouse. They did a great job.’
Police said multiple firearms, including a long gun, were recovered at the scene.
Miguel Andrade is in police custody, but it was not clear whether charges will be laid.
Kankakee, with a population of about 26,000 and located 60 miles south of Chicago, is the ninth-most dangerous city in the state.