Romeoville police officer shot, suspect in custody after chase
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- A police officer was shot during a foot chase early Thursday morning and the suspect is in custody, according to Illinois State Police.
The shooting happened near the intersection of Sierra Trail and Summerfield Drive around 12:13 a.m.
Romeoville police said officers found a vehicle that had been reported stolen. As they approached the vehicle to investigate, the suspect, Samer Hernandez, approached as well. The officer was shot in the shoulder.
The investigation into a stolen vehicle quickly escalated when officers started a foot pursuit of the suspect, an exchange of gunfire ensued, and an officer was hit in the right shoulder.
Crime scene tape still blocks off parts of a residential Romeoville, IL street were an officer was shot in the shoulder overnight while investigating a stolen car. The suspect is in custody. More on @cbschicago https://t.co/NZMfFlTXv8 pic.twitter.com/Q1JyspLAVS
— Sara Machi (@saramachi) May 25, 2023
Romeoville Police Chief Ken Kroll said Officer Dominic Thielmann, who has been with the department for six years, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center. The department said late Thursday afternoon that Thielmann's condition had stabilized.
Thielmann is the vice president of the Romeoville Fraternal Order of Police, according to the organization's website.
"We're going to take care of our own, and we're also going to make an arrest," Kroll said.
Officials confirmed Hernandez, 29, was on parole, because of previous gun charges, and was taken into custody at 5:45 a.m. less than a mile away from the scene. He was found hiding in a backyard in shrubbery, Chief Kroll said.
He was charged with armed robbery stemming from the stolen vehicle. His bond was set at $5 million and was sent to the Will County Jail.
Charges in connection with the attempted murder of the officer are pending, police said. The Will County Major Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.
A shelter-in-place order was issued prior to the arrest, leaving some neighbors in the dark about what was happening near them. The order was eventually lifted just before 6 a.m. when there was no longer a threat to the community.
One resident described the frenzy to CBS 2's Sara Machi and said she usually doesn't see such activity in her neighborhood.
"When everything was happening, we didn't know if we were going to go to the basement or what," she said. "We saw all the police officers here with rifles and everything. So we were really worried last night. We didn't sleep."