A 29-year-old man who was shot multiple times in Zion, prompting a lockdown at Zion-Benton High School, has been charged after prosecutors say he was found with a machine gun at the scene.
The Zion Police Department responded around 1:06 p.m. on February 27 to the area of Kenosha Road and Highlands Drive for a report of shots fired.
Zion Police Department Lt. Derek Zaloudek said officers were alerted to the shooting by both gunfire detection technology and 911 callers.
Officers arrived and found a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee with multiple bullet holes that had crashed near a retaining wall off Kenosha Road.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Vukovich said officers recovered numerous rifle casings in the roadway.
Officers located Gregory V. Harris Jr., 29, of North Chicago, a short distance away on Freedom Court.
Zaloudek said the man was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and officers administered medical aid.
The Zion Fire-Rescue Department was dispatched and transported Harris to an area hospital in serious condition.
Vukovich said an occupant or occupants in another vehicle opened fire on Harris while he was driving, leading to him being shot.
Segments of Kenosha Road, Highlands Drive and Freedom Court were closed for hours while officers and investigators collected gunshot evidence and video surveillance from multiple locations.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office provided a canine unit and the Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team provided drone support for area evidence searches, which “proved invaluable to this investigation,” Zaloudek said.
Harris admitted he had been driving the Jeep, Vukovich said. Officers followed a blood trail to an area nearby where a Glock handgun was located.
The gun was equipped with a “switch,” converting the semi-automatic gun into fully automatic.
Heroin, cocaine and a bullet were found inside Harris’ Jeep, Vukovich said.
The Zion-Benton Township High School, which is nearby, went into “code yellow” as a result of the incident. Students were kept inside the building and the doors were locked to the school.
Zaloudek said evidence suggests this was a targeted attack.
Harris was charged with armed violence, armed habitual criminal, felon in possession of a machine gun and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Three of the charges against Harris are Class X felonies — the most serious felonies in Illinois besides murder.
Vukovich said Harris is a convicted felon who is on parole. He served a 14-year sentence for an unlawful use of a weapon by a felon conviction out of Lake County.
Harris also has multiple other convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and attempted armed robbery.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Harris pending trial.
During a detention hearing, attorney Kristian Nordby said that his client did not fire any shots and was the one who was shot.
Nordby also noted that Harris was in court in a wheelchair due to his injuries and was in “terrible” condition, arguing that his client is not a flight risk.
Lake County Judge Charles Johnson granted the state’s petition and remanded Harris to the Lake County Jail following the hearing.
A status of preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning.