Suspect, Romeo Nance
A man, identified as Romeo Nance, suspected of fatally shooting eight individuals across three residences in Chicago, took his own life following a police standoff. Nance had eluded authorities since the discovery of the bodies in the city’s suburbs on January 21 and 22.
US marshals located the 23-year-old at a petrol station near Natalia, Texas, on Monday at 8:30 pm. After a standoff, he fatally shot himself. Police have not determined the motives behind the killings but believe Nance had some connection to the victims.
The eight bodies discovered on Monday belonged to members of the same family, according to authorities, though they did not confirm Nance’s relationship to them. Residents in the vicinity had been on edge for two days as authorities warned of Nance being on the loose and considered “armed and dangerous.” One victim was found on Sunday in a Will County home, while seven others were discovered on Monday at two Joliet homes on the same block, located approximately six miles northwest of the initial discovery.
Investigators suspect Nance was also involved in another shooting in Joliet on Sunday that injured a man, though details of their evidence were not disclosed.
Joliet Police Chief William Evans, speaking during a news conference on Monday evening, expressed the severity of the crime scene, calling it the worst he had encountered in his 29-year career as a policeman.
One of the residences was identified as Nance’s last known address, according to police. The duration of time the victims had been deceased remained unknown, with postmortems pending.
Teresa Smart, a resident living about a block away from the Joliet crime scene, expressed her fear before Nance was apprehended, stating, “This is way too close to home. I keep looking out the window and double-checking my doors. It’s super scary.”