DIXON, Ill. (AP) — Three sheriff’s deputies were shot Wednesday while responding to a home in northern Illinois, and a suspect was also wounded, authorities said.
Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said his deputies responded to a call about someone threatening to kill themselves or others inside a home in the Lost Lake area near Dixon. The suspect was also shot, he said. He did not provide any information about the suspect, including his name, age or where he lives.
VanVickle said a family member called police just after 8:30 a.m. to report someone was in the house and was threatening them. Negotiators tried to contact the person by phone and decided to enter the home just before noon.
“As soon as our officers entered the home, they were hit by gunfire from inside the home,” he said.
Van Wickle initially made a statement without providing details and then walked away from reporters, but when asked by a shouted question he said: “All those injured are in good condition.”
A spokesperson for Catherine Shaw Beshear Hospital in Dixon said three people were taken to the hospital’s emergency department, where two of them were treated and released. The spokesperson did not disclose the condition of the third person.
Illinois State Police is investigating the shooting, VanWickle said. The police department did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Aerial footage captured by local media Wednesday afternoon showed police vehicles and personal cars parked on the side of a nearby dirt road and officials occasionally gathering in small groups, but little sustained activity. Yellow police tape blocked off at least one driveway, and the Ogle County Sheriff’s Mobile Command Center was parked at the end of the driveway.
The Lost Lake Property Owners Association describes the area as a “rural community” with about 700 property owners in an unincorporated area about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Chicago near the cities of Dixon, Franklin Grove and Oregon.
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Associated Press writers Kathleen Foudy in Chicago and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
