Suicide Likely in Death of Suspect in Metra Train Shootout

DEERFIELD, IL - The south suburban murder suspect who engaged in a gun fight with members of a police task force on a Metra train at the Lake Cook Road station Friday night likely took his own life.

An autopsy from the Lake County Coroner’s Office shows Jamal Parks, 32, Gurnee shot himself in the head after firing at multiple officers on the train after it stopped at the station, the Chicago Tribune reported. Parks also sustained other injuries in the event that did not contribute to his death, and it’s not clear whether they were the result of broken glass, an abrasion or if he was hit with a bullet.

"A preliminary investigation is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper said on Wednesday.

Illinois State Police, the investigating body in the case, said one officer fired at Parks after the suspect began shooting.

Related: Murder Suspect Killed in Metra Train Shooutout is Gurnee Man

Officers tracked Parks and had members stationed on the train and outside at the Lake Cook Road station, where they expected him to get off. When he showed no signs of leaving the train, one officer attempted to take Parks into custody. That’s when he allegedly ran up to the second floor of the train-car and began firing at officers, one of which fired back.

Parks was a suspect in the slaying a week earlier of David Murrell, 34, Chicago, who was shot and killed while in a parked car outside a Walgreens store in Evergreen Park. Two other suspects in the Murrell killing remain at-large.

More via the Chicago Tribune

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