2 suspects fatally shot by Waukegan resident in attempted home invasion

WAUKEGAN, Ill. - A Waukegan resident exchanged gunshots with two people allegedly trying to break into a home Tuesday morning, fatally striking both suspects.

The deadly attempted burglary unfolded about 10 a.m. in the 100 block of Frolic Avenue, according to a statement from Waukegan police.

A person in the home confronted two males, one of whom was armed, trying to break into the home and an “altercation occurred” in which they exchanged gunfire, police said.

Officers showed up to the home and found the two males dead in the front yard, police said. Their names have not been released by the Lake County coroner’s office.

Waukegan Police Commander Joe Florip was unable to provide ages of the shooting victims.

A relative tells FOX 32 her niece lives in the home with her brother and a roommate. In the morning, the niece answered a knock at the door and it was the suspects. Minutes later, there was a shootout inside the home.

“If she would’ve been by herself, it would been a different story,” the relative said.

The niece was also babysitting her cousin’s one-year-old baby at the time of the incident.

“The guys just came to the door pretending like they were going to take the gas meter or something and she just opened the door a little bit and they tried forcing themselves in,” the relative said. “She started calling the roommate and he came up and the shooting started.”

The relative tells FOX 32 that shots were fired inside and outside the home, adding that the roommate does have a valid FOID card.

The next-door neighbor described what he heard in the morning.

“It was like in two or three intervals. Like my dogs were barking, that’s why I came to my door to check if anyone was here and there was no one here,” he said.

The neighbor says police arrived just a couple minutes later.

“I can’t remember the last time we had two people try to break into a home where they were shot and found in the front yard,” Commander Florip said.

He said police did find a weapon in the front yard.

The relative believes the incident was random, saying her car was broken into just three weeks ago on the same street.

“This is a very tranquil neighborhood and it’s getting out of hand now,” the relative said.

No one else was hurt in the shootout.

The shooting happened within a block of a Motel 6 that’s been the site of two murders since late August. John Cannon, 24, of Waukegan was shot fatally shot Sept. 8 at the motel, 31 N. Green Bay Rd., authorities said. On Aug. 26, another man was shot to death at the same motel. No arrest has been announced in either shooting.

Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.