Homeowner speaks out after home invasion leads to deadly SWAT standoff in Joliet

WILL COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- A family was forced to temporarily move into a hotel after a stranger came through the backdoor while on the run from officers.

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After doing some work in his backyard, Charles Holland says he briefly went inside his home for a break.

He then heard someone come through the back door and thought it was his children.

Instead, what he was faced with soon unfolded into a deadly SWAT situation.

"You feel invaded. You feel a little threatened," Holland said.

A family's home of about three years left in disrepair.

"To no fault of your own, watching, yourself, losing more than everything because they're just tearing up everything under the sun to get this individual," Holland said.

Holland said he initially thought it was his four kids, coming home from school.

READ MORE | Wanted man critically hurt after invading Joliet house with homeowner inside, barricading himself

"So, it was, like, 'Hey, you guys had an early dismissal?' And I didn't hear anything," Holland said.

As he turned the corner to go into his kitchen, he found the suspect, motioning him to be quiet.

Holland said the man did not threaten him with or seem to have a weapon.

That's when he tried to get the intruder out.

"As soon as we began to tussle, it was like beating on the front door. It was, like, you can hear screams: 'U.S. Marshalls, Sheriff,'" Holland said.

Holland got out before that apparent home invasion unfolded into an eight-hour standoff, on Monday at Romayne & St. Francis avenues in Joliet.

At the end, the Will County Sheriff's Office says the suspect shot himself and later died at the hospital.

Investigators say he was wanted for multiple drug felonies and tried to speed away from officers during a stop.

Sheriff's deputies say the suspect crashed into a fence before he got away, allegedly with a gun in his hand, eventually finding his way through a nearby unlocked back door.

Officials have not released the identity of the suspect.

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