Sheriff: 3 Ogle ERT members and barricaded suspect shot after incident in Lost Nation

By Jeff Helfrich, Editor in Chief

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

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

The Ogle County Emergency Response Team is comprised of personnel from multiple agencies, including the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon and Byron Police Departments, and SWAT paramedics from the Rochelle Fire Department.

One of the police officers 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 SWAT team medic who is employed full-time by the Rochelle Fire Department and part-time by the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office.

On Wednesday at approximately 8:39 a.m., the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office received information from a family member of the suspect of 402 Wild Rice Lane in Lost Nation that the individual was threatening suicide and murder. 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 received from the family member was that this was most likely a suicide by police officer situation,” VanVickle said. “There was no one else in the apartment. The family member who called was not in the apartment. The suspect was alone in the apartment and that was confirmed to us by the family member. We assumed he was planning to harm police officers. That is the information the family member gave us.”

The hostage negotiator’s first call to the subject’s cell phone was made at 10:40 a.m., and VanVickle said more than 50 phone calls in various forms were made to the residence. All went unanswered, he said. At 11:09 a.m., additional forces were sent to the residence to attempt to contact the subject, but were unsuccessful.

“At 11:51 a.m., due to a lack of communication, it was decided that our emergency response team should enter the home and check on the welfare of the individual,” VanVickle said. “Immediately after entering the home, our officers were fired upon from inside the home.”

VanVickle said the suspect in Wednesday’s incident was armed with two handguns, a knife, pepper spray and what officers believed to be a body armor. A search warrant is in place for the home, but no search of the interior had taken place as of Wednesday evening. VanVickle said the search warrant will determine whether drugs and alcohol were also involved.

The Illinois State Police will conduct 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 depend on the ongoing investigation and review by the Ogle County District Attorney’s Office. A possible arrest would not occur until the suspect is released from the hospital, as the sheriff’s office would cover the cost of medical bills if an arrest were made beforehand, 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, Illinois State Police, Dixon Rural Fire Department, Dixon City Fire Department, Oregon Fire Department, Mt. Morris Fire Department, Polo Fire Department, and REACT and OSF helicopters.

“I’m trying to catch my breath after today,” VanVickle said. “We’re a small, rural agency and it was the middle of a Wednesday morning. We had people who had just gotten off shift at 5 a.m. and we deployed every resource we had. We had to deploy some of our command staff. We had a lieutenant who was on the scene with me. That was the need and how seriously we took the situation. We train a lot in this type of thing. We were prepared. We had the ambulances and an EMT here. We had our SWAT medics and the proper equipment. This was just a really bad situation and a hopeless situation for law enforcement. Our people did exactly what we asked them to do.”

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

Extensive training is given on how to respond to potential incidents like Wednesday’s, VanVickle said. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office and other area law enforcement agencies conducted shooting drills at Byron High School on Monday and Tuesday. That training was used on Wednesday. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office has not experienced an officer-involved shooting since the 1970s.

“We put a lot of work into making sure everyone goes home every day,” VanVickle said. “One deputy was shot in the vest. We spend a lot of money on equipment to make sure they have the best equipment to go home to their families. Today is a testament to that. We had someone barricaded behind 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 person or a traffic stop. We train as much as we can and try to provide the best information and tactics we can.”