Man hospitalized with self-inflicted gunshot wound after hourslong SWAT standoff in Joliet, Illinois
An hourslong SWAT standoff in Joliet, Illinois, has ended with the suspect taken to the hospital in critical condition with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Will County Sheriff's Office.
Just before 1 p.m., deputies tried to pull over a car in the 200 block of St. Jude Avenue when the driver crashed into a fence and ran off. The Will County Sheriff's Office said the driver had multiple felony warrants.
The driver, who authorities said is a man in his 40s and is armed, ran into a nearby home two streets over in the 200 block of Romayne Avenue and barricaded himself inside. Negotiations lasted between the man, the crisis negotiators, and the man's family members for hours.
In an update just before 10 p.m., the sheriff's office said that "After hours of negotiating with the barricaded subject, the Will County SWAT team breached the home and attempted to make contact with the subject." Once inside, they said the man was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was rushed to St. Joseph Medical Center in critical condition.
The incident prompted the nearby Marycrest School, Mary Sears Children's Academy, and the administrative building for Joliet Township High School District 204 to be placed on lockdown. The lockdowns were later lifted.
Students at Marycrest were sent home for the day at 3 p.m., and parents of children at Mary Sears were allowed to pick up their kids while the standoff was ongoing.
Roads in the area are said to remain blocked off for the next few hours.