Man charged in connection with Joliet-area murder spree, Will County Sheriff's Office says

JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- A man has been charged in connection with a murder spree that happened back in January, the Will County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Jon W. Hansen, a 24-year-old Shorewood resident, has been charged with three counts of murder, one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm.

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This comes after Romeo Nance allegedly went on a murder spree in the Joliet area in late January, shooting nine people, eight fatally. Nance took his own life during a confrontation with Texas police days later, authorities said.

Those shootings included random Joliet-area attacks on Toyosi Bakare and Mario Guerrero on Jan. 21.

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On Jan. 27, Will County Sheriff's Office detectives interviewed Hansen, who said he was with Nance when both shootings happened.

Hansen admitted to being with Nance when Bakare was fatally shot at the Pheasant Run Apartments, the sheriff's office said. He added that Nance gave him the gun used to shoot Guerrero on Davis Street, and later told detectives that he threw that gun in the DuPage River near his home.

Hansen refused to provide detectives with further information about the gun's location, but detectives and the Plainfield Fire Department searched the DuPage River near Westshore Drive and Picnic Street in Shorewood on Feb 5. There, a diver found a loaded black Springfield Armory XDS pistol.

Hansen was taken into custody and transported to the Will County Public Safety Complex for processing on Friday, the sheriff's office said. Hansen invoked his right to remain silent, and he is being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility, awaiting his initial court appearance.

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