Jan. 23 (UPI) — Authorities in the Chicago suburb of Joliet late Monday said a suspect they were searching for in connection to the fatal shooting of eight people has died from a self-inflicted gunshot in Texas.
Romeo Nance, 23, died by suicide following a confrontation with U.S. Marshals near Natalia, Texas, which is located about 30 miles southwest of San Antonio near the U.S.-Mexico border and more than a 1,000 miles southwest of Joliet where he is accused of killing at least seven people, possibly eight.
The Joliet Police Department said in a statement that it was notified of Nance’s death at about 8:30 p.m.
“It is believed that Nance took his own life with a handgun following a confrontation with Texas law enforcement officials,” it said.
Police had been searching for Nance since earlier Monday when seven bodies were found in two homes on the same Joliet street.
Authorities told reporters during a press conference that the seven bodies were found by the Will County Sheriff’s Office as it was investigating a homicide that happened a day earlier.
Dangle Jungles, deputy chief of special operations for the county sheriff’s office, said Toyois Bakare, a 28-year-old Nigerian national, died Sunday at the hospital after police responding to a shooting at about 4:27 p.m. found him bleeding from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Bakare was shot 10 minutes after an earlier shooting nearby that resulted in a 42-year-old man suffering from non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said a red Toyota Camry was observed at both scenes, and had called on the public’s help in locating it.
The county sheriff’s office then set up surveillance on the 2200 block of West Acres Road in search of the vehicle when officers Monday located blood outside a residence, which they entered and found two people shot dead. Five people were then found dead in a second home on the street. Police believe they were killed on Sunday.
Joliet Police Department Chief Bill Evans said during the press conference that they do not have a motive for the shootings, but explained that Nance knew the victims at both homes and that the victims were related.
Nance’s last known address was one of the houses where the victims were found, he said.
“I’ve been a policeman 29 years. This is probably the worst crime scene I’ve ever been associated with,” Evans said.
He added they believe the shootings at the two Joliet homes are connect to the two shootings on Sunday.
