Police in Kane County tell NBC 5 that the suspect killed after an exchange of gunfire involving police Wednesday is the same person who ran from officers from different agencies just days before.
That suspect, as well as a K-9 police dog, are now dead and it all came to an end at a busy intersection in broad daylight.
“I see six, 12, 18 cop cars fly down Randall! I’m like oh my God!” said eyewitness Matthew Byer.
Witnesses describe the scene as the busy intersection quickly turned into a crime scene. Matt Jurewicz saw the end of the high speed chase and crash and heard the gunfire right outside his work.
“I was nervous for the people who were stuck in traffic when the felon drove right in there!” said Jurewicz. “I thought that guy must be in some serious trouble if he’s gonna grab a gun surrounded by police officers.”
The mangled gray Honda Accord involved was stolen out of Aurora at aproximately 2pm Wednesday by an armed male suspect, police said. Police spotted the vehicle in South Elgin and chased it through multiple cities before ramming it and it crashed at the border of Geneva and Batavia.
“I see these cops get out, guns and everything,” said Byer. “I’m like ‘there’s something going on!’”
“Did you hear the gunfire?” asked NBC 5’s Evrod Cassimy to eyewitness Gloria Harris.
“Yes it was a lot of—Jesus, it was a lot of bullets. I told my kids to get down,” said Harris.
After the crash, Kane County Sheriff’s Deputies used a K-9 named Hudson to try and stop the offender who got out of the vehicle with a gun. Gunfire was exchanged. The suspect was killed but sadly so was Hudson.
“He is a long time servant of the sheriff’s office,” said Kane County Sheriff, Ron Hain. “I’d like to point out that he is named Hudson after an Illinois State Police Trooper who was killed in the line of duty.”
“It’s tragic,” said Jureqicz. “It’s unfortunate that a K-9 was lost.”
The deputies involved were taken to the hospital to be checked out, but were uninjured.
An investigation remains underway.
