Joliet police are investigating the deaths of a 4-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman as homicides, authorities said Sunday. Police said they believe the woman was the mother of the child and of another boy who was physically unharmed. A person of interest was in custody Sunday afternoon.
Officers and detectives responded to a residence in the 700 block of Garnsey Avenue on the east side of the city shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday, after multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire in the area. Some callers said they had seen a shirtless man get rid of a firearm as he ran near some train tracks, according to a news release from the Joliet Police Department. Satellite images of the home address show it is located around 100 feet away from railroad tracks.
In the backyard, responding officers found the woman and child, both unresponsive and having suffered apparent gunshot wounds. The Will County coroner’s office pronounced both dead at the scene. The victims have not yet been publicly identified.
Police said a 29-year-old man was also found near the residence with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his ankle, which they believe was self-inflicted. Police did not say whether there was a connection between the man and the victims. The Joliet Fire Department took him to Silver Cross Hospital, and he was later transferred to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood under police guard.
Officers also located an unharmed 8-year-old boy in a bedroom. The Fire Department took the child to St. Joseph Medical Center “as a precaution,” according to the news release.
Police recovered a firearm at the scene, as well as spent shell casings that appeared to match the firearm. The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
