A woman who was held hostage during a Saturday shootout that extended from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound on Sunday morning, in a riot that left at least four people dead – including the suspect – according to reports .
At least two other people, and possibly a third, were seriously injured, according to reports. The murder of a 15-year-old girl was still being investigated, police said.
“If it weren’t for the courageous conduct of the Evanston police officers, many more people would have been injured,” said Chicago Supt police. David Brown told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Had it not been for the courageous conduct of the Evanston police, many more people would have been injured.”
The suspect was identified as Jason Nightengale, 32. Authorities said he randomly killed three people in Chicago and wounded several others, then traveled to Evanston, north of the city, where he shot and wounded the hostage at an IHOP restaurant before being killed in a police shootout, Chicago FOX 32 reported.
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Jason Nightengale, 32, killed at least four people on Saturday before being shot dead by police, officials say. (Chicago Police)
A woman who claimed to be Nightengale’s sister wrote on Facebook that he “hasn’t been in his right mind for a long time,” reported the Sun-Times.
A gun was recovered when the sniper was killed, Evanston police posted on Twitter.
A photographic photo of the Chicago Police showed Nightengale after a previous arrest, wearing a shirt and a security badge. He was charged in five separate domestic violence cases, but all were fired, the newspaper reported.
According to the authorities, the spree started in the section of Hyde Park in Chicago, where Nightengale shot a 30-year-old man in the head, killing him. Then he went to the Kenwood neighborhood, a short distance away, where he fatally shot a security guard after asking to use a phone in an apartment building, FOX 32 reported.
At the same location, police said to the police station, the gunman shot a 77-year-old woman who was checking her mailbox. She was in critical condition, shot in the head, according to the news station.
Nightengale then visited someone on the 19th floor of an apartment building, threatened that person and later stole his car. He then traveled to a convenience store to steal it, killing a 20-year-old man and seriously injuring an 81-year-old in the process, according to FOX 32.
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The sniper left after exchanging shots with the police at the convenience store.
Sometime later, in the evening, the police in Evanston – about 30 kilometers to the north – received reports from an armed man at a local pharmacy. When the police arrived, Nightengale fled the pharmacy to a nearby IHOP restaurant, where he took the woman hostage and shot her, according to reports.
Police officers ended up killing Nightengale in the parking lot of a Dollar General store, FOX 32 reported.