Prosecutors say a man shot his co-worker at least 14 times, kicked him in the head and stole his phone at a Vernon Hills shopping center before later being arrested while wearing body armor and armed with guns.
The Vernon Hills Police Department and Countryside Fire Protection District responded around 6:50 p.m. Thursday to Hawthorn Hills Square Shopping Center, 700 North Milwaukee Avenue, for a report of a shooting.
Officers responding to calls of shots fired found an adult male victim, who is in his 30s, injured near Liquor Barn, according to Vernon Hills Deputy Police Chief Shannon Holubetz.
The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the busy shopping center while patrons were present.
Paramedics transported the victim to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he remains in critical condition.
The Vernon Hills Police Department asked the public to avoid the shopping center on the southwest corner of Route 60 and Milwaukee Avenue due to the police activity.
Crime scene tape was set up around a portion of the shopping center parking lot as officers with the Lake County Major Crime Task Force investigated.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said officers canvassed the area of the shooting.
The manager of the Liquor Barn identified the victim as one of his employees and identified the gunman also as one of his employees, Jhonattan Garcia-Nava, 36, of North Chicago.
Garcia-Nava was charged with attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony. Additional charges are likely.
Surveillance video showed the victim got off work at 6:30 p.m. and Garcia-Nava followed him outside while engaging in an “animated conversation,” Cannon said.
The two walked to the victim’s car 10 minutes later. Garcia-Nava entered the passenger side of the victim’s vehicle while the victim got into the driver’s seat.
Shots could be seen being fired inside the vehicle and the victim fell out of the vehicle and tried running away, Cannon said.
Cannon said Garcia-Nava crawled from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat and was seen shooting outside the open car door.
Garcia-Nava exited the car and walked to the victim where he stole his cell phone and kicked the victim twice in the head, Cannon said.
A witness to the shooting was exiting the Liquor Barn when she saw the victim and Garcia-Nava talking by a van and then Garcia-Nava opening fire before kicking the victim in the head.
Investigators learned that Garcia-Nava and the victim had been in a two-year-long conflict but avoided each other at work, Cannon said.
Cannon said Garcia-Nava ran to his own vehicle, a Jeep Commander, and drove away from the scene.
The shopping center was closed for several hours as investigators worked at the scene.
License plate reader cameras captured the suspect’s vehicle leaving Vernon Hills.
Garcia-Nava was tracked to the 800 block of South McAlister Avenue in Waukegan. Officers spotted the Jeep in the driveway of a home.
The Northern Illinois Police Alarm System’s (NIPAS) Emergency Services Team, which is a SWAT team consisting of officers across the region, responded to the home and arrested Garcia-Nava around 1 a.m. Friday.
Negotiators had talked Garcia-Nava into surrendering from the home, Cannon said.
Garcia-Nava was wearing a ballistic vest and armed with a loaded firearm when arrested, Cannon sai.
A search of the residence revealed a rifle, parts of a rifle, ammunition and the victim’s cell phone.
“It is an understatement to say that this defendant’s pre-trial release poses a real and present threat to the community,” Cannon said during a detention hearing.
Cannon called Garcia-Nava “callous and cruel” for shooting the victim at least 14 times and said it was clear that Garcia-Nava intended to kill the victim.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted a petition to detain Garcia-Nava pending trial after the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office sought his detention.
Garcia-Nava is scheduled to appear in court again on December 12 for a preliminary hearing.