DailyExpertNews
†
A suspect has been taken into custody after a fatal shooting at a WeatherTech facility in Bolingbrook, Illinois, on Saturday morning, according to the Bolingbrook Police Department.
One person was killed while another shooting victim remains in critical condition, Bolingbrook police captain Anthony Columbus said. A third victim used to be discharged from the hospital.
All three victims were WeatherTech employees, police said in a press release.
The suspect in the shooting, identified as Charles C. McKnight Jr., 27, worked at an employment agency and was assigned to the WeatherTech Facility earlier this month, police said.
DailyExpertNews has not been able to identify a lawyer for McKnight.
Police said the Bolingbrook Police Department was dispatched to the facility around 6:25 a.m. local time. The suspect was arrested about three hours later, authorities said.
A preliminary investigation found that McKnight was confronted by other workers towards the end of the night shift after he allegedly stole a watch and wallet from two co-workers at gunpoint, police said.
During the confrontation, an argument took place and the suspect pulled out a gun and shot three colleagues, authorities said.
Authorities do not believe the shooting was premeditated.
At the time of the arrest, police recovered items related to the McKnight robbery and also found a handgun, according to the release.
DailyExpertNews has contacted WeatherTech for comment. The company makes automotive products, including floor mats.
The village of Bolingbrook is a suburb in southwest Chicago, about 30 miles from the city center.
“Today, our community has been shattered by yet another act of senseless gun violence,” Representative Bill Foster, who represents Illinois’ 11th congressional district, said in a statement.
“Words cannot express the grief of the victims and their families at this time. My thoughts are with them during these difficult times… No one needs to worry about random gun violence while living their normal life, and we cannot accept this as a new reality,” he added.
Police say they are working with the Will County Prosecutor on formal charges.
Saturday’s deadly incident comes after a controversial week in Washington before gun regulation legislation. President Biden signed a bipartisan gun safety bill, the first major in decades, while the Supreme Court overturned a New York gun law restricting carrying a concealed gun outdoors, marking the largest expansion of gun rights in a decade.
Those developments come on the heels of other gun violence, including a massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.