Updated as of 1/24/2024 at 3:00 p.m. ET
The victims of the senseless slaying in Chicago this past weekend have been identified. Brace yourself, but we’ll get to that very soon.
Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans cleared up a few details of exactly what happened when the 23-year-old shooter reigned terror in a Chicago suburbs. He said the seven victims were killed Sunday on the 2200 block of West Acres, all of them being located between two houses that were across from one another. Evans said Nance then traveled to another street where he shot randomly at two men, fatally striking one who was identified as 28-year-old Toyosi Bakare.
Following that, Nance was also reported to have shot and injured a man in his leg.
The Will County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as 47-year-old Tameka Nance, 31-year-old Joshua Nance, 20-year-old Alexandria Nance, 38-year-old Christine Esters and 35-year-old William Esters II. There was also a 16-year-old girl and 14-year-old girl who were killed whose names have not been released to the public.
The victims, police believe, are relatives of shooter Romeo Nance. In a statement, the coroner said the cause and manner of death are still being investigated. It’s also unclear exactly what relation Nance had to these victims whether they were aunties, uncles or siblings. However, this is the closest the cops may be to finding out why he did it.
“We can’t get inside his head. We just don’t have any clue as to why he did what he did,” said Evans in a press conference.
A Grisly Killing Spree
Authorities found the man accused of going on a killing spree in Chicago, claiming the lives of eight people, after he fled to Texas. However, he was allegedly found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Joliet, Ill. police said Nance was suspected of fatally shooting eight people at three different places in Chicago between Sunday and Monday evening. One victim was Toyosi Bakare, a 28-year-old Nigerian man who moved to the U.S. three years ago, was found with a gunshot wound outside of an apartment complex in Will County, per ABC 7.
Two victims, a 47-year-old woman and 35-year-old man, were found dead in a house in Joliet. In another house on the same block, five more victims were found dead including a 38-year-old man, a 14-year-old girl, a 16-year-old, a 20-year-old woman and a 38-year-old woman.
One of those addresses was a match to Nance’s last known place of residence, authorities discovered.
Joliet Police Chief William Evans said in a press conference that the people found in the houses were family members. Nance was also suspected of injuring another person who survived their injuries.
More from ABC 7 Chicago:
In that incident, a 42-year-old man was shot in the leg and suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Video shows the Davis Street incident. In it, a man can be seen getting supplies from a car, when a red Toyota Camry pulls up. A few words are exchanged before the driver pulls away. But moments later, as the 42-year-old victim walks home, the driver of the Camry pulls around and opens fire. Gunshots can be heard, and the suspect speeds away.
Curtis Ellis is the 42-year-old victim’s neighbor.
“My wife could’ve been out there taking groceries out of the car, just like this guy was taking water out of his car, and it doesn’t seem like he even knew the guy,” Ellis said.
Nance made it almost 1,200 miles until his vehicle was located in Natalia, Texas by Will County law enforcement officials. Police say he tried to get them off his trail by pulling into a shopping mall parking lot and stealing someone’s license plate to switch it with the one on his get away vehicle.
A chopper was dispatched and the U.S. Marshals Service tracked him down to a gas station where he tried to flee. After being cornered behind the station, authorities say he shot himself.
Nance had a criminal history with offenses dating back to 2019 - 19 charges to be exact, police say per NBC News. While many of them were traffic violations, police revealed he was expected to appear in court next month for a charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm after an alleged road rage incident
“Mr. Nance’s reign of terror on our communities in Will County is now over,” said Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles. “It is time for our communities to come together and heal.”