A Fox Lake woman is on trial in McHenry County this week after authorities said she raised a handgun and an assault rifle at officers before one of them shot and wounded her.
Authorities said Elizabeth Kloss, 56, was intoxicated, armed and threatening to harm herself and officers when police arrived her boyfriend’s Wonder Lake home on July 20, 2014. Kloss is charged with aggravated assault with a firearm against a peace officer, illegal possession of ammunition and an expired firearms ownership identification card.
Kloss’ boyfriend, Robert Lehr, was not home at the time, but testified at the start of Kloss’ trial Monday that he had spoken to her by phone that day. He testified that Kloss was distraught over an argument with a relative and because she wrongly suspected he had cheated on her; he also said she had a history of depression and alcoholism and had made prior statements about taking her life.
Lehr said that Kloss got a key to his house from his sister after the argument with the relative, who had tossed out the ashes of Kloss’ dead dog. Kloss told Lehr earlier that day by phone that she had shot two rounds from his gun in the backyard and was scared police would come, Lehr testified. He said he called a friend, James Fillinger III, to check on Kloss.
Fillinger testified that he poured out the alcohol Kloss was drinking, tried to calm her down and suggested she take a nap. Fillinger described Kloss as a good person with a good heart who was going thorough some troubles.
Hours later, after Fillinger had left, Lehr testified that he got another call from Kloss, who had resumed drinking, prompting him to have 911 alerted.
McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin McKenzie was one of the officers who responded. He described seeing Kloss yelling and holding and waving around a small black handgun. At one point, Kloss came out of the house apparently unarmed with her hands in the air yelling, “Shoot me, shoot me,” he said.
When she returned with the semi-automatic rifle pointed at officers, she walked toward them and ignored commands to drop the gun, he said. Being in her line of fire and fearing for his and his partner’s lives and the safety of neighbors, McKenzie said both officers fired “several rounds” until she was struck and fell.
Her weapon “was pointed right at us,” McKenzie recalled.
Kloss was struck in the head or neck area, officials said, and was treated at a hospital intensive care unit.
Another responding officer, McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Noah Knudson, also described hearing Kloss yelling from inside the house and saying, “One minute to 5 o’clock and it’s all over with.”
It was just after 5 p.m., and the deputies did not know what to expect, they testified. Knudson said he and McKenzie continued to try to make contact with Kloss but that she was “uncooperative” and waved around the handgun “in a reckless manner.”
When she returned with the assault rifle and began stepping toward the deputies, Knudson said that, even though they were wearing body armor, they knew the bullets from the assault rifle could still kill them.
“It raised our fear of bodily harm and death,” he said. “I was concerned for my safety.”
Kloss appeared to tear up in court and held her head in her hands during the officers’ testimony.
A woman who lived across the street also testified about witnessing the commotion, seeing Kloss wave the gun around and hearing Kloss yell, “I don’t care. I’ll shoot anybody.”
Kloss has filed a federal lawsuit against responding officers and the sheriff’s department.
In July, while out of jail on bond awaiting trial, Kloss was charged with aggravated battery of an emergency room employee at Centegra Hospital in McHenry and was taken back into custody, authorities said. She remains in county jail on a $35,000 bond for those charges, for which she is to be tried separately.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter. Tribune reporter Robert McCoppin contributed.
