Man wanted in Highland Park homicides had gun near Arch: St. Louis PD

Police said Jeff Austwick, 54, a suspect in his brothers' murders, was found Friday in the bushes in downtown St. Louis.

June 10, 2024, 4:04 p.m. CDT | Update June 10, 2024, 4:05 p.m. CDT

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — St. Louis police released an image showing the arrest of the man authorities say shot two of his brothers before setting fire to their late mother's Highland Park home .

The National Park Service notified St. Louis Metropolitan Police on Friday that Jeff Austwick, the 54-year-old resident of the Park Avenue West home that burned two days earlier, may be near the Gateway Arch grounds, said the police in a social message. media publication.

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Detectives reviewed live footage from downtown security cameras and found Austwick “in the bushes” near the intersection of Walnut and 7th Street, where he was “also armed with a gun “, the police said.

John Austwick, 60, of Mundelein, and Marc Austwick, 63, of Lake Forest, were found fatally shot early Wednesday outside the burning home their brother Jeff shared with their mother, who died five days earlier , according to Lake County. Lake County Coroner's Office and Major Crimes Task Force.

By Wednesday evening, police had obtained a nationwide arrest warrant for Jeff Austwick, according to task force spokesman Chris Covelli.

The preliminary investigation indicates that Marc and John Austwick went to the home to discuss their late mother's situation with their brother, Covelli said. After their arrival, Jeff Austwick allegedly shot his brothers and set the house on fire.

There were no murders in Highland Park in the 19 years before the 2022 mass shooting during the city's Independence Day parade, which killed seven people, injured nearly 50 others and has traumatized countless others.

Since then, five other homicides have taken place.

A 45-year-old man is accused of stabbing both his parents to death in the luxury Green Bay Road apartment they shared in September 2022.

A 16-year-old Highland Park boy has been charged with murder for the shooting of a 16-year-old Highwood boy in August 2023.

And now, Jeff Austwick faces two counts of murder for the killing of his brothers last week.

No word was immediately available Monday on the status of his extradition from Missouri to Illinois.

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