A 23-year-old man who reportedly killed eight people in Joliet and Will County was related to most of his victims, according to police.
Days after the incidents, officials still have no motive behind the killings they believe a Joliet man by the name of Romeo Nance had carried out.
“We just don’t have any clue as to why he did what he did,” said Joliet Police Chief William Evans.
According to authorities, the day after Nance fatally shot himself in a confrontation with Texas law enforcement officials on Monday, the Will County coroner identified the victims at the Joliet homes believed to be his relatives, which include 38-year-old Christine Esters, 47-year-old Tamaeka Nance, 35-year-old William Esters II, 31-year-old Joshua Nance and 20-year-old Alexandria Nance. The bodies of two teenage girls, ages 14 and 16 were found but their names were not released.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. central time, US Marshals successfully located Nance near Natalia, Texas, approximately 36 miles southwest of San Antonio. A confrontation ensued where Nance reportedly took his own life, according to law enforcement officials.
This grim outcome concluded a weekend of utter carnage where Nance allegedly murdered eight individuals at three separate locations in the Chicago suburban areas of Joliet and Will County on Sunday and early Monday.
Nance lived in one of those two Joliet homes.
Authorities also say that Nance was responsible for killing another man outside an apartment building by the name of Toyosi Bakare, a 28-year-old Nigerian man who had been living in this country for three years. The suspect was not related to this victim.
Nance is also believed to have shot and injured a ninth person in the leg.
On Monday, the Sheriff’s office in Medina County, Texas, received a call about a person suspected in the Chicago-area killings heading into the county on Interstate 35. Sheriff Randy Brown expressed his belief that the suspect was attempting to reach Mexico.
The Texas Rangers are conducting an investigation into Nance’s death and are of the belief that he shot himself, according to Lt. Jason Reyes, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, of which the Rangers are a part.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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