Public: Incidents isolated, result of times

CHANNAHON – Many people who live in Channahon do so to escape the growing crime rates of the northern suburbs.

But with the discovery of human remains along the Des Plaines River, an attempted-murder/suicide and the shooting of two young adults all in the last two months, some residents are worried their little town may no longer be safe.

But Village President Joe Cook reassures his residents the recent violent crimes are isolated incidents and are not random acts, therefore the general public is not at risk.

Channahon father Keith Slager kept his twin 4-year-old daughters indoors Tuesday, after he heard of the shooting of a young man and woman in an apartment on the 25000 block of Blackberry Lane.

At about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, police responding to a 911 call found the man and a woman had been shot. Both individuals were transported to an area hospital, where they have received medical treatment.

Wednesday afternoon, Channahon officials announced two men and two women were arrested in relation to the Tuesday shootings.

“Normally Channahon is a peaceful village. I feel sorry for the police force, who are trying to do a good job with this strange stuff happening,” Slager said.

Slager said in the case of the Vaughn family tragedy, in which Christopher Vaughn allegedly pulled off the interstate and killed his family in their vehicle on a Channahon frontage road two years ago, and with the man who attempted to kill his mother before killing himself last month, there was nothing police could have done.

“They decided to kill their families,” Slager said. “When its premeditated, there is nothing they’re going to be able to do to stop them.”

Before it was announced arrests had been made in connection with Tuesday’s murders, Slager said he was afraid the most recent shootings were a result of a random robbery.

“I kept my girls inside all day and under my protection that day,” he said.

Despite the recent violence, Channahon resident Scott Elmore said he has no doubts in the safety of his community.

“I think its a result of the times with the economy,” Elmore said.

 “Everyone has a shorter fuse now than they used to.”

As Minooka parents Beth and Steve Licatesi walked their children out of their weekly swimming lesson at the Channahon Park District, both explained their shock when they heard of the recent shootings.

“It’s really unsettling,” Beth Licatesi said. “I thought we were in a really safe area.”

“But with the economy, people are all on edge,” Steve Licatesi added.



ISOLATED INCIDENTS

The series of events that have occurred in the last couple of months are nothing more than unfortunate isolated incidents, Cook said. With both Tuesday’s shootings and last month’s attempted-murder/suicide the acts were not random. The victims knew their offenders.

There also is no proof a crime related to discovery of skeletal human remains in the Des Plaines River occurred in Channahon, Cook said. The situation was blown out in the media, he said, because of the ongoing investigations for two missing women in Bolingbrook and Plainfield.

“The fact is, because we are such a quiet town, there is an increase in sensitivity and
awareness to police activity, and with events such as this,” Cook said.

The village and the police department are handling more calls than usual from concerned citizens and the media.

“It is for a good reason people have a higher sensitivity to what is going on. People move to this community from areas they don’t want to raise children in due to safety concerns,” Cook said.

Regardless of the recent headlines, Channahon’s crime rate has actually decreased, Cook said. Both robberies and crimes against individuals have decreased by 10 percent.

Because of the joint efforts between the Channahon police and the Will-Grundy Counties Major Crimes Task Force, four people were arrested within 14 hours for Tuesday’s crime.

The village is equipped to not only handle such situations, Cook said, but also to warn the public of danger. At any time the village can broadcast information on cable and can break down specific areas of the village to call if a warning is more urgent.

“It is our job to work with the public,” Cook said. “We would never hesitate to do any of these things.”