
Nine guns were seized and three suspects were arrested after police say they fired shots in a residential area near Wauconda and one of the bullets nearly struck a resident in the head.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 2:20 p.m. Monday to the 28700 block of North Madison Avenue in unincorporated Wauconda for a call of shots fired.
The victim reported he was outside on the back porch with his wife when a bullet nearly struck him in the head, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
The bullet missed him and struck a sliding glass door to his home, which shattered the door.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and began investigating. They checked an area to the west based on the trajectory of the bullet.
Deputies located a vacant property in the 28200 block of Garland Drive in unincorporated Wauconda.
They saw eight pistols and a rifle on a table in a grassy area on the property, Covelli said.
Omar Macias, 28, of Waukegan; Martin D. Hernandez, 30, of Round Lake Beach; and Joseph Rodriguez, 33, of Round Lake, were arrested.
Covelli said Macias, Hernandez and Rodriguez were shooting the guns toward the east in the back of the property.
One of the rounds they fired was the round that almost struck the victim, Covelli said.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the charge of reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony, against the three men.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered all three held on a $500,000 bond each during a court hearing Wednesday.
Covelli said evidence of alcohol consumption was located at the scene. The vacant property is owned by an employer of one of the three arrested.
Investigators are working to find out if the men had permission to be at the property.
All of the firearms were seized and notification is being made to the Illinois State Police about the incident.
The state police will make a determination about the status of the three men’s Firearm Owner’s Identification cards and concealed carry licenses.
Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg called the incident an “incredibly reckless” act that could have resulted in innocent people being shot.
Idleburg said the suspects acted “completely irresponsible and without any regard for the safety of others.”
The sheriff said he was proud of his deputies for quickly locating the suspects and arresting them.