Hide Article Text (OCR)
TRIPLE: Police find bag of handgunsContinued from Page 1Saturday night or early Sunday morning inside Apt. 23 of the former schoolhouse-turned-low-income apartment complex.The gunmen were fellow gang members who may have been trying to create their own territory and leadership, police said.The suspects reportedly thought the victims had taken property that belonged to them, though police declined to confirm whether the “property” was drugs.“I would like the public to know, as was stated (Monday), that this was not a random act,” said Elgin Police Chief William Miller during an afternoon press conference.At around 12:30 p.m. Monday, police said McCoy and Som-merville along with at least two other men went to the second-floor apartment armed with as many as five guns.In the second floor stairwell, they encountered and likely surprised Cooper, then shot him several times in the chest and head, police said.The group then continued up the stairs and walked into Apt. 23, a one-room efficiency where police said they shot Thomas, Jackson and Boey.Jackson and Thomas were both shot in the head and found on the floor near a sofa, according to Kane County Deputy Coroner Steve O’Brien.Cooper and Thomas were pronounced dead at the scene, while Jackson was pronounced dead at Sherman Hospital, O’Brien said.Elgin police estimate five to seven people, including the three victims, were in the apartment at the time of the shooting.“However, (witnesses) may have hid themselves within the apartment or they may have jumped from the apartment to escape the gunfire,” said Elgin Police Sgt. Tom Linder.Witnesses told police the killers fled the building down a north stairwell.While Sommerville was found in the parking lot, police did not know if the rest of the shooters fled on foot or in a car parked nearby.Officers later found a bag lying on the side of a road outside Elgin containing five handguns that may have been used in the shootings, Miller said.The weapons were sent to theElgin Police Chief William Miller announces charges Tuesday against two men in connection with the murders of three men Monday.Daily Herald Photo/George LeClairebe analyzed, Miller said.The gunfire erupted Monday just as Renay Cooper, mother of victim Anthony Cooper, was driving by the apartment building at Center and Kimball streets. She saw her nephew in the parking lot, pulled her car over, and got out in time to hear the gunshots, said her aunt, Anita Johnson.“She didn’t know what it was or who it was,” Johnson said.Elgin police said they did not know whose name was on the lease for the apartment, which was condemned by city inspectors late Monday, but said the residence “belonged to the gang” and was the location members used to manufacture and sell drugs.While the building has been the site of police surveillance in recent weeks, officers said theyfound no drugs, money or weapons inside the apartment Monday.A man living on the second floor said the apartment was “like a nightclub,” with people going in and out at all hours and a stereo constantly blaring.Anita Johnson, who also was Tremayne Thomas’ grandmother, said Anthony Cooper often went to the apartment to visit a girl who she believed lived there.Thomas, Cooper and Boey all were second cousins, and Jackson was a friend of Boey who had been staying with his father in Carpen-tersville, police and family members said.Johnson said she knew the parents of at least one man accusedCorey AnthonyBoey Cooperof the shootings, and that one of the suspects was best friends with another of the victims’ cousins.“They all knew each other,” she said.Court records show Cooper,Thomas and Boey had criminal records, with Boey serving about eight months at the East Moline Correctional Center until his release in May.Family members said Thomas was on a furlough from a down-state youth home at the time ofthe shooting. He was scheduled to return to Peoria on a 3:55 p.m. train Monday, Johnson said.Appearing before Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert Janes Monday afternoon, Sommerville said he moved to the Elgin area from Alabama a few years ago.He was wanted on a $100,000 warrant at the time of his arrest Monday. Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Irvin said previous charges of possession, manufacturing and delivery of narcotics are pending against Sommerville for an incident earlier this year in Kane County.McCoy also has a history of arrests. In 1997 he was convicted of obstructing justice and destroying evidence, Irvin said. McCoy was arrested in October 1998 for possession of cannabisand resisting a peace officer, then again earlier this year for driving under the influence of alcohol. Those charges are pending, Irvinsaid.At the bond hearing Tuesday, Irvin said McCoy appearedby the murder charges denied any part in the killings.TremayneThomasDaily Herald staff writer Dave Mann contributed to this report.
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Wed, Aug 18, 1999
Page 373
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
IL, USA 11 Oct 2021
Other Publications Near Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights Herald
Daily Herald
Arlington Heights Day
Arlington Heights Sunday Herald
