ROCKFORD, Ill. — A gunman opened fire at an Illinois bowling alley on Saturday, killing three people and leaving three others severely wounded, officials said.
On Sunday a member of the US Army was charged in the deadly mass shooting— a random attack that also left a 14-year-old boy fighting for his life after being shot in the face, according to officials.
Duke Webb, 37, of Florida has been identified as the suspect. He faces three counts of murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder in Saturday’s shooting in Rockford, said Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley.
Webb is an active member of the Army and is being held in the Winnebago County Jail without bond, the Rockford Register Star reported.
“We believe this was a completely random act, and there is no prior meeting or any kind of relationship between the suspect and any of the victims in this case,” Police Chief Dan O’Shea said, according to the local news organization.
The charges emerged as officials revealed that the three people who died in the attack in Shooters Bar, part of the Don Carter Lanes, were all men, ages 65, 69 and 73. None have been publicly identified.
A 14-year-old boy was also shot in the face and in critical condition after being airlifted to a hospital in Madison, O’Shea said at a news conference Sunday morning, New York Post reported.
Another teen, a 16-year-old girl, was shot in the shoulder, while a 62-year-old man is in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds, the chief said.
According to O’Shea, both teenagers had been at the bar to pick up takeout food.
Webb had attempted to hide his weapons when officers arrived on scene. He was taken into custody within minutes without further gunfire, O’Shea said.
Moreover, two handguns were recovered from the scene, according to the chief.
“Most of the incident was captured on surveillance video from inside the business,” O’Shea said, according to the Register Star. “The investigators have the surveillance videos, and they’ll go through those.”
Webb is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday. Further details regarding his military service were not provided.
The mass shooting is another violent episode in what’s been the deadliest year on record in the city’s history. Saturday’s killings marked 35 homicides in the city this year, the most of any year on record dating back to 1965. The next highest had been 31 recorded in 1996.
