The man accused of fatally shooting eight people near Chicago before fleeing to Texas and killing himself in a confrontation with U.S. marshals was related to most, if not all, of the victims, authorities said Tuesday.
However, it remained unclear why Romeo Nance, 23, allegedly killed seven people at two homes in Joliet, Illinois, and another person in Joliet Township.
“We can’t get inside his head,” Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference. “We just don’t have any clue as to why he did what he did.”
The shootings at the two homes occurred in the 2200 block of West Acres Road on Sunday, the chief told reporters. The seven victims found at the homes ranged in ages from 14 to 47, Evans added.
“We do know right now that there was a family relationship between the two residences,” he said, naming Nance as a relative to the “vast majority” of the seven victims.
At one of the homes on West Acres, there were five victims: 14- and 16-year-old girls, 20- and 38-year-old women and a 38-year-old man, Evans said.
There were two victims at the second home, a 47-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man, he said. The victims’ identities were not released.
Two of them were found Monday while Will County Sheriff’s deputies were looking for Nance’s red Toyota Camry in connection with a pair of shootings on Sunday, including one in which a man was killed.
Deputies went to Nance’s last known residence, but nobody answered, according to authorities. The deputies then went to a nearby residence that was connected to Nance.
Evans said the two homes were the “probably the worst crime scene I’ve been associated with” after 29 years in law enforcement.
The sheriff’s office had sought information from the public about Nance’s whereabouts.
Police in Joliet were later informed that he had been located by the U.S. Marshals Service in Texas and that he had shot himself.
Nance was found near Natalia, outside San Antonio, around 8:30 pm. local time, police said.
It’s not clear why he went to Texas and if he had any connection there.
Only one victim has been identified, Toyosi I. Bakare, a 28-year-old Nigerian immigrant who was found shot in the head outside of an apartment complex in Joliet Township. Bakare was declared dead at a hospital, according to authorities.
In the other Sunday shooting, a 42-year-old man was shot in a leg and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office.
There didn’t appear to be any connection between the shootings at the homes in Joliet and the other two people Nance is accused of shooting, officials said Tuesday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
