A 74-year-old man, who is a veteran and convicted felon, was arrested after officials say he opened fire on a man, leaving him seriously injured, as the victim walked out of a store in Waukegan in broad daylight.
The Waukegan Police Department responded around 12:15 p.m. on July 20, 2025, to Waukegan Market, 624 Grand Avenue, for a report of shots fired.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said officers arrived and found a male victim lying on the ground in the parking lot.
He was grabbing his leg and in pain while saying he had been shot.
The Waukegan Fire Department responded, treated the victim and transported him to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan.
The man had suffered a gunshot wound to the outer right thigh and his thigh swung back and forth with the bone being heard scraping, which is indicative of internal injury, McConnell said.
Police spoke with a witness who said he saw a black four-door Cadillac sedan traveling southbound on Ash Street and pull into the parking lot.
The car stopped as the victim was exiting the market and the witness then heard two pops.
The witness said the driver was the sole occupant of the car and a description was provided of the driver, who drove to an apartment building across the street afterwards, McConnell said.
Video surveillance was obtained and captured the incident, which showed the victim dropping to the ground after being shot.
Officers identified the car involved as being registered to Rowland Sandifer, 74, of Waukegan.
McConnell said Sandifer’s girlfriend lives at the apartment where his car was seen pulling into after the shooting.
The girlfriend told police that she knows Sandifer, whom she has been dating on and off for years, as well as the victim. She said she no longer hangs out with the victim because he makes disrespectful comments towards her and her goddaughter, McConnell said.
Additional surveillance video was obtained showing Sandifer’s vehicle leaving the apartment complex, a gunshot being heard minutes later and then Sandifer returning to the apartment complex where he exited the car alone and was carrying a black box with a handle, McConnell said.
McConnell said Sandifer handed the box off to another man, who could be heard saying, “You want me to take this to my house?” Sandifer then left the parking lot.
The man was located at the apartment complex and he tried to run into his apartment but officers were able to stop him.
They told him they needed him to give them the black box that Sandifer had given him earlier in the day, McConnell said.
He initially told them they would need a warrant but eventually voluntarily consented to them going into his apartment to retrieve the box, which was on the floor in a closet.
Officers opened the box and located a 9mm handgun that was loaded with a round in the chamber and four rounds in the magazine, McConnell said. The gun was reported stolen out of Indiana.
At the hospital, the victim was heavily medicated due to the pain and officers observed he had an entrance wound but no exit wound on his thigh, McConnell said.
An X-ray showed a fracture to the victim’s femur and metal and bone fragments in the thigh.
Officers had responded the day prior to the area where Sandifer was driving his black Cadillac when he reportedly produced a gun and threatened a person who had battered him.
Police were unable to identify the two parties but believe it was the shooting victim and Sandifer, McConnell said.
Sandifer has a prior felony conviction for domestic battery enhanced where he was sentenced to prison. He also has additional criminal history.
Sandifer is prohibited from possessing a firearm as he is a felon and also prohibited from possessing a firearm due to his domestic battery convictions.
“In this case this Defendant got into a small physical [altercation] with the victim, whom his girlfriend has a problem with, and instead of moving on with his life, instead this Defendant stewed for a day, hunted down the victim and shot him in broad daylight,” McConnell said, adding that Sandifer tried obstructing the investigation by hiding the gun.
Sandifer was charged two days after the shooting with aggravated battery by discharge of a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, felon in possession of a weapon and two counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon enhanced.
An arrest warrant was issued and he was taken into custody almost a year later. Sandifer is being held in the Lake County Jail.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial and it was granted by Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim following a detention hearing.
A public defender for Sandifer said his client is a U.S. Army veteran, worked for a long time as a truck driver for the post office and turned himself in to police after learning of the warrant.
The attorney argued there was a lack of physical evidence and that the victim told police that the clerk shot him, not Sandifer.
Sandifer is scheduled to appear in court again on September 2 for an arraignment hearing.