A member of the U.S. Army was charged Sunday with a deadly shooting at a bowling alley in Illinois – a random attack that also left a 14-year-old boy fighting for his life after being shot in the face, according to officials.
Suspect Duke Webb, 37, of Florida, faces three counts of murder and three of attempted first-degree murder in Saturday’s shooting in Rockford, said Winnebago County Attorney J. Hanley.
Webb is an active member of the Army and is held without bail on Winnebago County Jail, the Rockford Register Star said.
“We believe this was a completely random act, and there is no prior meeting or relationship of any kind between the suspect and any of the victims in this case,” said police chief Dan O’Shea, according to the local newspaper.
The charges came when authorities revealed that the three people who died in the Shooters Bar attack, part of Don Carter Lanes, were all men, aged 65, 69 and 73. None have been identified yet.
A 14-year-old boy was also shot in the face and in critical condition after being flown to a hospital in Madison, O’Shea told a news conference on Sunday morning.
Another teenager, a 16-year-old girl, was shot in the shoulder, while a 62-year-old man is in critical condition with several gunshot wounds, the chief said.
The two teenagers were at the bar to buy takeout, the chief said.
Webb tried to hide his weapons when the police arrived, but was taken into custody within minutes, said O’Shea.
Two pistols were recovered from the scene, he said.
“Most of the incident was captured on surveillance video from inside the company,” said O’Shea, according to Register Star. “The investigators have the surveillance videos and they will go through them.”
The mass shooting culminated in the deadliest year on record in Rockford, with 35 homicides in 2020, the newspaper said. These crime statistics date back to 1965, the newspaper said.
With Post Wires