2 Dead In Ingalls Park Liquor Store Shooting; Police ID Victims

JOLIET, IL — Two people died Tuesday night in a shooting in Joliet's unincorporated Ingalls Park, and the Will County Sheriff's Office blanketed the area investigating the violent crime.

The slayings happened at the Ingalls Park Liquor Store, in the 1800 block of East Washington Street. Sheriff's investigators and crime scene evidence technicians were out in force along Washington Street. The crime happened outside the city limits of Joliet.

Will County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Sheriff Dan Jungles said the deadly shootings happened at 8:42 p.m. Late Tuesday night, Jungles confirmed to Joliet Patch that two victims had died.

Officials said deputies responded to the store for a report that a victim was inside with a gunshot wound to the back. Deputies found New Lenox resident Zachary Stohr, 29, on the floor of the business. The East Joliet Fire Department took Stohr to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Deputies found a second victim, identified as 20-year-old Joliet resident Xavier Mendoza, in a vehicle parked in a lot next to the liquor store. Police said Mendoza suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Joliet resident Bob Hernandez drove to the scene and produced an hour-long Facebook Live video showing Will County police investigating the crime scene and blocking off parts of Washington Street to traffic.

Hernandez said he was tipped off by an anonymous Facebook friend and that's how he learned of the crime. Hernandez told Joliet Patch that an older resident of the Ingalls Park area told him that one of the shooting victims was found inside a black Chevy parked in the liquor store lot.

By mid-morning Wednesday, the Ingalls Park Liquor Store was back open. One of the employees, who asked that his name not be used, told Joliet Patch that he was working Tuesday night and called the police after one of the young men, later identified Stohr, came stumbling into the liquor store after being shot. The store employee said that Stohr was bleeding from both his front and back areas. The store employee called 911 and the Will County Sheriff's Office arrived about a minute later, he said.

At the time of the shooting, no customers were inside the liquor store, the employee said.

"One guy came in and he (fell) inside. I called an ambulance," the employee told Joliet Patch. "He cannot talk, but (was) moving. Blood on the front and back side."

The employee said that Stohr, 29, had been a customer at Ingalls Park Liquor Store on a number of occasions in the past. The employee has worked at the Joliet liquor store for four years and "I cannot see something happen like this" before.

The Ingalls Park Liquor Store wanted customers to know that the business "is back to normal" in spite of Tuesday night's deadly shootings in the store parking lot. Ingalls Park liquors opens at 10 a.m. daily and stays open until 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

If anyone has information about the two shooting deaths, the Will County Sheriff’s Office is urging the public to contact Sheriff's Detective Brian O’Leary at 815-727-8574, extension 4957. You can also leave anonymous tips on the Will County Sheriff’s website at www.willcosheriff.org/enforcement/submit-a-crime-tip.