A man fatally shot his boss at Winners Freight in Burr Ridge and wounded a female co-worker at the trucking company’s suburban Chicago office building Tuesday afternoon before he took his own life as officers were closing in on him, authorities said.
Burr Ridge Police Chief John Madden said officers were called about 3 p.m. to the office building at 16W475 South Frontage Road for a report that a gunman, identified as Jeremy Spicer, 31, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, had shot two people he worked with.
At a Wednesday morning news conference, Deputy Chief Marc Loftus of the Burr Ridge Police Department said Spicer worked at Winners Freight for about a week and was about to be released over a dispute about pay and property. He shot his boss, Nicola Misovic, 30, who died at a Hinsdale hospital as a result of his injuries, according to a news release from the Burr Ridge Police Department.
Spicer is also accused of shooting a 31-year-old female co-worker who has not been identified. She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove and is in stable condition after undergoing surgery, according to the news release.
Loftus said after the shooting at Winners Freight on Tuesday, Spicer went to two other businesses that he worked for — Force Logistics and Egzit Logistics.
Loftus said investigators spoke with the woman prior to her surgery and she said she knew Spicer as a previous employee of the company she works at.
Police said Spicer went to a third logistics company in a building across the street and asked if the owner was in. When he was told the owner wasn’t there, he went to another business on 7940 South Madison Street.
“He asked the company there if he could come in and use the restroom and they let him,” Loftus said. At the same time, Loftus said officers were setting up a perimeter to lock down the area.
“After approximately 20 minutes, the employees at the building he was in, got suspicious and asked [Spicer] to leave,” Loftus said.
“We received a 911 call, but we had a perimeter set up. He was within our perimeter,” said Madden. Loftus added that surrounding agencies helped Burr Ridge Police lock down the area while Spicer was “holed up” in the building on South Madison.
“When officers closed in on him, he took his own life by gunshot. He is deceased,” Madden said. Spicer used a .40-caliber Glock handgun, police said.
Police also said Spicer was staying at the LaQuinta Inn in Willowbrook while working as a trucker for Winners Freight. A warrant was issued on his room, and an empty holster was recovered, Loftus said.
The motive for the shooting is not clear at this time, police said.
Investigators said the four active crime scenes required a huge amount of police presence, including assistance from the DuPage County Major Crimes Task Force and the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation is ongoing.
