Highwood police shoot and kill man while responding to suicidal person call
Police officers in north suburban Highwood shot and killed a man who allegedly came at them with a gun on Thursday afternoon while officers were responding to a call of an intoxicated person who had threatened suicide.
Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said, around 4:45 p.m., Highwood police responded to a wellbeing check request at a home in the 200 block of Morgan Place, after receiving a report of a highly intoxicated suicidal man.
A relative told police the man's ex-girlfriend was inside the home with him, and when officers arrived, the man had locked himself inside a bedroom.
After trying for several minutes to convince him to come out and speak to paramedics, the man said was armed and hoped officers were wearing their vests, according to Covelli. The man then burst out of the bathroom and pointed a handgun at the officers, prompting one of them to shoot him.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officer who shot him also was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
A preliminary investigation determined the gun recovered at the scene appeared to be a replica handgun.
The Lake County Coroner's Office has scheduled an autopsy.
The Lake County Major Crime Task Force was investigating the shooting.