Sheriff: 3 members of Ogle ERT, barricaded suspect shot dead after incident at Lost Nation

By Jeff Helfrich, Editor-in-Chief

LOST NATION — Three Ogle County Emergency Response Team members and a suspect were shot Wednesday morning at a Lost Nation residence in rural Dixon and survived after being transported to hospitals area, Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. .

The names of the suspect and deputies were not released by the sheriff during the news conference. Two law enforcement officers were transported by ground to KSB Hospital in Dixon and were treated and released, VanVickle said later in a telephone interview. The third was flown to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford and underwent surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. The suspect was in surgery at KSB Wednesday afternoon and VanVickle said he was unsure of his condition.

The Ogle County Emergency Response Team is made up of individuals from various agencies, including the Ogle County Sheriff's Office, the Oregon Police Department and the Byron Police Department, as well as SWAT medics from the Rochelle fire department.

One of the law enforcement officers who were shot is a lieutenant with the Ogle County Sheriff's Office, one is an officer with the Oregon Police Department and the other is a doctor with the SWAT who is employed full-time by the Rochelle Fire Department and part-time by the Ogle County Sheriff's Office.

On Wednesday around 8:39 a.m., the Ogle County Sheriff's Office received information from a family member of the suspect at 402 Wild Rice Lane in Lost Nation, who said the individual had threatened suicide and of homicide. The Ogle County ERT was activated at 9:18 a.m. and a hostage negotiator arrived on scene and attempted to make contact with the individual.

“The information we got from the family member was that it was most likely a suicide in a cop-like situation,” VanVickle said. “There was no one else in the residence. The family member who called was not present at the residence. The suspect was alone in the residence and this was confirmed to us by the family member. We believed his intention was to harm the police officers. This is the information the family member gave us.

The first call to the individual's cell phone by the hostage negotiator was made at 10:40 a.m. and VanVickle said more than 50 phone calls were made in various forms to the residence. All went unanswered, he said. Additional resources were dispatched to the home at 11:09 a.m. to attempt to make contact with the person, without success.

“At 11:51 a.m., due to the lack of communication, it was determined that our emergency response team would enter the home and determine the welfare of this individual,” VanVickle said. “Immediately after entering the home, our deputies received gunshots coming from inside the home. »

VanVickle said the suspect in Wednesday's incident was armed with two handguns, a knife, pepper spray and what law enforcement believed to be a bulletproof vest. A search warrant was obtained for the home and no search of the interior had taken place as of Wednesday evening. VanVickle said the warrant will determine whether drugs and alcohol were also involved.

Illinois State Police will lead the investigation into the officer-involved shooting. VanVickle said it's likely the names of those involved will be released Friday and body camera footage will be reviewed.

Charges against the suspect stemming from the incident are pending and are dependent on the ongoing investigation and review by the Ogle County State's Attorney's Office. A possible arrest would not be made until the suspect was released from the hospital, as the sheriff's office would cover medical costs if an arrest was made before then, VanVickle said.

The Ogle County Sheriff's Office was assisted on scene by the Lee County Sheriff's Office, DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, Carroll County Sheriff's Office, State Police Illinois, Dixon Rural Fire Department, Dixon City Fire Department, Oregon Fire Department, Mt. Morris Fire Department, Polo Fire Department and helicopters from REACT and OSF.

“I'm trying to catch my breath after today,” VanVickle said. “We are a small rural agency and it was the middle of a Wednesday morning. We had people who had just finished work at 5 a.m. and we used every resource we had. We had to use part of our staff. We had a lieutenant who was in the response with me. It was the necessity and the seriousness with which we took the situation. We train a lot on this kind of thing. We were prepared. We had the ambulances and an emergency doctor here. We had our SWAT medics and all the right equipment. It was just a very bad situation and a no-win situation on the part of law enforcement. Our employees did exactly what we asked of them.

Mental health services were made available to those involved and members of the affected departments, VanVickle said.

Extensive training is provided to respond to potential incidents like Wednesday's, VanVickle said. The Ogle County Sheriff's Office and other area law enforcement agencies spent Monday and Tuesday training with active shooter drills at Byron High School. That practice came into play on Wednesday. The Ogle County Sheriff's Office hasn't seen an officer-involved shooting since the 1970s.

“We put in a tremendous amount of work to make sure everyone got home every day,” VanVickle said. “A deputy took a walk in a vest. We spend a lot of money on equipment to make sure they have the best possible equipment to go home to their families. Today is proof of that. We had someone barricaded inside a door who basically ambushed the deputies. And they all go home to their families. We always tell our deputies that the risk is always there, whether it's a barricaded subject or a traffic stop. We train as much as possible and try to provide the best information and tactics possible.