A US soldier was charged with three murders and three first-degree murder attempts.
A Florida US soldier was charged with a shooting at an Illinois bowling alley that killed three people and injured three others.
Winnebago County Attorney J Hanley said Duke Webb, 37, was charged with three murders and three first degree attempted murders in the shooting at Don Carter Lanes in Rockford on Saturday night.
Webb was taken into custody shortly after the shooting at around 7 p.m. (1:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday), Rockford Police Chief Dan O’Shea said at a news conference on Sunday morning.
“I am very confident that the officers who were in the building could stop further violence,” said O’Shea.
He said the three who died were all men aged 73, 65 and 69, but did not provide their names.
In addition, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the face and flown to a hospital in Madison in a stable condition, and a 16-year-old girl who was shot in the shoulder was treated in a hospital and released. A 62-year-old man underwent overnight surgery after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds and is in critical condition, the boss said.
The bowling alley was closed at the time of the shooting, under restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, O’Shea said. But there was a bar open upstairs. The boss said the upstairs venue has double doors that open to the outside to ensure the bar complies with Illinois COVID-19 guidelines.
Up to 25 people were in Don Carter Lanes when the shooting took place, but most of them have fled or are in hiding, O’Shea said. The wounded teenagers collected food in the bowling alley carry area, he said.
He said the suspect tried to hide his guns before being arrested and that he was arrested without officers firing a shot. Webb is an active soldier and investigators are in contact with the U.S. Army, O’Shea said.
The Rockford Register Star reported that 2020 was the deadliest year for homicides in the city of nearly 170,000, located about 129 km northwest of Chicago. That year, 35 people were killed in the city, breaking the previous record of 31 in 1996.
“When we reach the end of this toughest year and look to this new year, we will know this kind of violence must stop,” said Mayor Tom McNamara.
“And today we have to show through the eyes of the country as Rockfordians how we react to such an incident, as a Rockford who supports one another.”
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