Berwyn officers shoot and kill man wanted in triple homicide in downstate Illinois, police say
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man wanted for killing three people in central Illinois was shot and killed by police in west suburban Berwyn overnight.
Three family members were shot and killed Thursday night in Mahomet, near Champaign. Hours later, the suspected gunman found himself in a shootout with police in Berwyn, about 140 miles north of Mahomet.
What happened in between was frightening and bizarre. Police said the man not only killed two dogs, white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes said
Around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, police in Mahomet were called to a home in the 1100 block of Riverside Drive, where multiple people had been shot.
Police said officers found three people with life-threatening gunshot wounds.
One victim, 26-year-old Sara Mason, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the Champaign County Coroner's office. Two others – 61-year-old Janis L. Mason and 23-year-old Caleb M. Mason – were taken to Carle Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
A former classmate of Janis Mason said she was an amazing person who was loved and respected. The younger victims were her children.
Meantime, around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday, officers in Berwyn responded to a call of a man with a gun in the 1800 block of Home Avenue.
Officers spotted the suspect, who ran off and forced his way inside a home one block over on the 1800 block of Wenonah Avenue, where he shot and killed two dogs, according to police. Officers then spotted him fleeing into a nearby yard on the 1800 block of Home Avenue.
Police ordered the gunman to stop, but he opened fire at officers, who returned fire, killing him. He has been identified as 24-year-old John R. Lyons, of Westchester.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes posted a video in which he claims he was the intended target in Berwyn. Doorbell camera video in his post shows someone with a gun and what appears to be a crossbow outside Fuentes' home, and the timestamp on that video is about 10 minutes before police said they were called about Lyons.
Police have not connected Lyons to the incident at Fuentes' home.
Lyons' motive for the shooting in Mahomet and his connection to the victims remained unclear as of Thursday afternoon.
The Champaign County Coroner's Office, Mahomet Police Department, and Illinois State Police were investigating the triple homicide. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force was investigating the police shooting in Berwyn.
