3 Shot Outside Joliet Bar, Police Confirm

JOLIET, IL - Three people were shot in the parking lot outside of Eden Bar and Grill on Joliet's east side early Sunday morning, Deputy Police Chief Al Roechner told Joliet Patch. Roechner said the shooting occurred around 12:45 a.m.

Eden Bar and Grill is in the 900 block of Gardner Street, near Nowell Park. According to Roechner, one of the shooting victims, a 35-year-old New Lenox man, was shot in the right side of his mouth following an altercation with the suspect outside of the establishment.

The two other victims were identified as men from Crest Hill, ages 30 and 31. One man was shot in the knee and the other was shot in the back by the gunman, Roechner said. The victim who was shot in the back was subsequently airlifted to Loyola. He is in critical but stable condition, Roechner said.

Roechner said it is his understanding all three victims are expected to survive. Two victims were hospitalized at nearby Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center and Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, respectively.

Roechner said the gunman ran away before the police and ambulances got to Eden's. He said that police investigators will be working on the case all day in hopes of identifying and capturing the gunman.

Police are also planning to interview the shooting victims sometime Sunday. Witnesses at Eden's told police the shooter was tall, heavy set and he wore a blue shirt with light-colored pants.

Anybody who can help police solve the case should call the Joliet Police Department at 815-724-3020, Roechner said. Detectives are also in the process of studying the video surveillance cameras in hopes of learning additional clues about the shooter's identity.

Roechner does not believe this was a random shooting. "This sounds like it was more personal," he added.

Image of Eden via Google Maps