Teen Killed After Fire Identified As District 127 Student

GRAYSLAKE, IL — A 17-year-old Grayslake boy who died after being pulled from a burning home last week has been identified as Zachary Bollam, the Daily Herald reports. Bollam, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head prior to the blaze, was pronounced dead at Loyola Medical Center at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Bollam's cause of death remained under investigation, according to the Daily Herald.

Bollam was a student within Grayslake Community High School District 127, according to the Daily Herald.

The Aug. 22 blaze broke out at about 12:34 a.m. in the 400 block of Normandy Lane and Bollam's death came two days after his grandmother, the owner of the Grayslake home and the boy's guardian, killed herself in a parking garage at Loyola Medical Center, authorities said.

Police went to Loyola at about 2:15 p.m. on Thursday to interview the grandma, Deborah St. Antoine-Browne, 64, about the blaze and also take fingerprints, DNA and obtain statements, according to authorities. Just over two hours later, she was found dead.

Authorities learned that before she killed herself, the grandmother gave her granddaughter, the younger sibling of the teen who has since died, a bottle of prescription drugs and told her to "take it all," according to media and police reports.

Bollam and his sister were living with 64-year-old St. Antoine-Browne at the time of the fire. Authorities for the first time on Friday said Bollam suffered a gunshot wound to his head prior to the fire. Three police officers rushed into the home and pulled him from the blaze.

It remains unclear how the teen ended up with a gunshot wound to his head but police did say they recovered a .38-caliber pistol from the home. Police are continuing to investigate the fire and shooting but added they are not looking for any suspects at this time.

In the days following the blaze, a police probe led investigators to interview Antoine-Browne further, police said. The teen and his sister were placed in the custody of the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services, authorities said Friday.

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The three police officers who pulled Bollam from the fire early Tuesday morning faced dangerous and "extremely smoky conditions."

After several unsuccessful attempts at entering the home, the officers formed a "human chain," crouching down and holding onto each other as they navigated their way through heavy smoke to get to the teen, ABC 7 Chicago reports. A neighbor attempted to rescue the boy before police arrived but was overcome by the smoke.

The police officers were eventually able to make it to an upstairs bedroom where they found the boy.

"They couldn't see, so they were all in constant contact with each other through touch. That's how they went up the stairs," Grayslake Police Chief Phil Perlini told ABC 7. "They could hear him breathing and moaning and groaning as they went up the stairs. They are feeling every step of the way. They went up and finally felt a shoulder, I believe, and they pulled him down the stairs."

The victim was first taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center and then to the burn unit at Loyola University Medical in Maywood in critical condition, police said. He died Saturday, according to media reports.

The police officers were taken to local hospitals. Two of the officers have been treated and released while the third is being treated for injuries that are not considered life-threatening.