Police are asking for the public’s help but have released few details five days after two Lake County residents were found shot to death inside the former Ramada Inn hotel in Waukegan.
The Waukegan Police Department responded around 9:50 p.m. Friday to 200 North Green Bay Road in Waukegan for a person shot call.
Officers arrived and found two people dead inside one of the rooms at the former Ramada Inn hotel, according to Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain.
The hotel has been vacant since late 2018 and homeless people are known to reside in it.
The two victims were adult males and both had gunshot wounds, the Lake County Coroner’s Office said.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek identified the two on Tuesday as Jamir Johnson, 30, formerly of Gurnee, and David Miller, 59, formerly of Lindenhurst.
Banek said autopsies showed Johnson and Miller both died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
Waukegan police officials did not release any information on the incident until Wednesday — five days after the incident. The information released did not provide any new details in the case.
The Waukegan Police Department’s Major Crime Scene Unit responded to process the scene and the department’s Criminal Investigations Division is investigating.
Chastain said the Criminal Investigations Division has been “diligently working” on the case.
A homeless man who lives at the boarded-up property told Lake and McHenry County Scanner he discovered the bodies inside the room.
The man, who did not wish to be publicly named, said one of the residents found dead had reportedly robbed a drug dealer and ran back inside the hotel.
The man who spoke to Lake and McHenry County Scanner said he went to sleep after it happened and later awoke to find that resident, along with a second resident, fatally shot.
He notified other building occupants of the discovery and one of them called 911.
Police records show officers routinely are called to the building for various offenses, most commonly trespassing reports.
In February 2022, a fire started inside a second-floor room of the vacant building. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Anyone with information on the double homicide is asked to call the Waukegan Police Department tip line at 847-360-9001.
Anonymous tips can also be sent by texting 847411 using the keyword WPDTIP before the tip information. The Lake County Crime Stoppers can also be contacted at 847-662-2222.