Authorities report 'mass casualty' shooting in northern Illinois

DIXON, Ill. (AP) — Several people were reported shot Wednesday in northern Illinois in what authorities are calling a “mass casualty incident.”

Ambulances and two medical helicopters were called to the scene in the community of Lost Lake near Dixon, where there was also a massive police presence, according to a post on the county's Fire Incidents/Ems Facebook page by Winnebago Boone & Ogle.

A person answering the phone at the Ogle County Sheriff's Department had no comment when contacted by The Associated Press. The department's website says a news conference will be held at 3:30 p.m.

Aerial video released by local media Wednesday afternoon showed law enforcement and personal cars parked on the side of unpaved roads throughout the neighborhood and officials occasionally gathering in small groups, but little activity in course. Yellow police tape blocked off at least one driveway and the Ogle County sheriff's mobile command center was parked at the end of the driveway.

The Lost Lake Landowners Association describes the area as a “country-style community” with about 700 homeowners in an unincorporated area near the towns of Dixon, Franklin Grove and Oregon, about 105 miles (168 kilometers) ) west of Chicago.

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