PARK FOREST, Ill., May 24 (UPI) — Two FBI agents were shot while serving a warrant near Chicago on Tuesday, the bureau said, and the person identified as the shooter was later found dead inside the home.
The agents were attempting to serve a warrant in Park Forest, Ill., about 35 miles south of Chicago, when they were shot.
The target of the warrant was Melvin Toran, 50, the Chicago Sun-Times reportedTuesday. Toran was a convicted murderer and reputed gang member who was out on parole. He was later found dead inside the home.
“It was just like a horrific scene, something like you would see on TV,” resident Scott Smith told NBC Chicago. “Then all of the sudden I hear the FBI trying to call him to come outside. They said, ‘Elvis, come outside. Elvis, come on out!'”
Residents in the area were advised by the Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163 to keep their children at home due to an “unsafe situation.”
Details of the warrant weren’t immediately revealed. Court records reveal, though, that Toran was convicted of murder in 1984 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Sun-Times report said. In 2008, he was again sentenced to prison for possessing a firearm.
Officials said the injuries sustained by the federal agents are not life-threatening, FBI spokesman Garrett Croon said.
A short time after the shooting, the school district posted a message on its web page saying the ordeal had been resolved.
“We have been notified by the Park Forest Police Dept. that the situation … has been resolved,” the message stated. “Students who are walkers can proceed to school. The buses will resume transportation at 9:15 AM. School is in session. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have presented to parents, however the student’s safety is our first concern.”
Earlier this month, another FBI agent was shot in Illinois by a driver during a traffic stop in Mahomet.
