A father allegedly killed his own three young children inside a home in Round Lake Beach Monday, a county board member said. The man was taken into custody after a police pursuit and crash.
The Round Lake Beach Police Department and Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District responded around 1:40 p.m. Monday to the 200 block of East Camden Lane in Round Lake Beach.
Round Lake Beach Deputy Police Chief Wayne Wilde said officers responded to a call of a well-being check at the residence.
Police arrived and found three people dead inside the home. The ages of the victims were not released by the police.
Lake County Board Member Dick Barr said Monday evening that the three victims were young children and they were killed by their father.
“Three young and innocent souls were taken from this earth by unspeakable evil. That unspeakable evil existed in the heart and mind of the man who so heinously took the lives of three of his own children,” Barr said.
“This was not a criminal act that is emblematic of who we are or where we live, rather a selfish soul, void of humanity, void of compassion, void of mental well being, who cared more about himself than he did about his own children,” Barr said.
“As heart broken as I am, I am equally angry. I’m angry that this coward is not dead while his innocent children are stacked up at the morgue and his estranged wife weeps with sorrow no human alive should ever have to endure,” he added.
Barr, a Round Lake Beach resident, said he started a GoFundMe account to help raise money for the mother of the children.
Wilde said earlier Monday that the homicides of the victims were “an isolated incident and there is no further risk to the public.”
Evidence technicians with the Lake County Major Crime Task Force responded to the crime scene to assist in the investigation.
A person of interest was taken into custody around 4:45 p.m. Monday following a police pursuit and crash near Joliet, according to Round Lake Beach police and police radio traffic.
The suspect vehicle was spotted by a license plate reader camera on an expressway in Chicago.
Illinois State Police said troopers attempted to stop the vehicle on Interstate 57 at 115th Street in Cook County and the vehicle fled.
The vehicle eventually crashed near Interstate 80 at Water Street in Joliet.
The person of interest was transported to a hospital for treatment. His condition was not known, state police said.
“This remains an active homicide investigation by the Round Lake Beach Police Department, therefore further details cannot be released at this time,” Wilde said earlier Monday.
Police nor the Lake County Coroner’s Office have publicly identified the victims or the suspect yet.
Authorities are expected to provide additional details on the case Tuesday.
The incident remains under investigation by the Round Lake Beach Police Department.