Cop shoots man inside station



An officer shot and wounded an armed man inside the Vernon Hills police station early this morning, the first police-involved shooting in the north suburb, authorities said.

The man entered the lobby of the station at 740 Lakeview Parkway shortly after midnight saying he had been involved in an accident and wanted to file a report, authorities said.

"So an officer arrived to take the accident report information. And the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it at the officer. So the officer shot the suspect," Officer Sharon Joseph told reporters outside the station, where a front glass door was shattered from the shooting.

The man was hit at least once and was taken in fair condition to a hospital. Joseph did not know whether he fired at the officer, who was not injured.
Joseph did not know whether there had been an accident or it was a ruse to draw the officer out. "That's part of the investigation," she said.

The man has not yet been positively identified and no charges have been filed, she added.

Joseph did not think anyone else was in the lobby at the time and noted that the dispatchers were behind "bullet-resistant glass."

"So that should have kept the dispatchers safe," she said.

Still, Joseph said "anybody with a handgun is a danger to everyone around. . .You have to stay on high alert at all times."

The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, which is being conducted by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force