At least three people were killed by a man who carried out “murderous violence” in Chicago and near Evanston on Saturday, Chicago police said.
Several others were injured by the gunman who was also killed after a police shootout, Chicago Police Department superintendent David O’Neal Brown told a news conference on Saturday. He added that no police were injured.
Identifying the sniper as Jason Nightengale, 32, Brown said he had no information on a possible motive for the murders.
He later logged on to Twitter to say that “a violent criminal and his murderous violence have been arrested”.
The wave of deaths started when Nightengale fatally shot a 30-year-old man sitting in a car in a Chicago parking lot in the Hyde Park neighborhood, at approximately 1:50 pm local time (2:50 pm ET) on Saturday afternoon, Brown told the news conference press release.
The University of Chicago later confirmed that the victim was “a current student” on Twitter.
About 10 minutes later, Brown said the suspect killed a security guard in a nearby apartment building, before shooting a 77-year-old woman who was retrieving her mail in the head. Brown said the elderly man was in a “critical condition”.
After stealing a red Toyota from a man at gunpoint, Nightengale shot a 20-year-old man while he stole a story of convenience on the south side of town at 3 pm, Brown said.
The man was a “random victim,” said Brown, adding that he died after being taken to the city’s Christ Hospital.
An 81-year-old woman was also left in critical condition after suffering “gunshot wounds to the back and neck, fired from the attacker’s gun,” he added.
An hour later, the 15-year-old was also in critical condition after being shot in the passenger seat of a car driven by his mother, Brown said, adding that Nightengale later returned to the scene where he shot police officers.
After fleeing to Evanston – a city north of Chicago – Nightengale took a woman hostage before shooting her in the head, Brown said.
Evanston police – who had arrived at the scene in response to a public call – then got involved in a shootout with Nightengale, who was pronounced dead at a hospital in Evanston, Evanston police chief Demitrous Cook told NBC affiliate News 5Chicago.