Ingalls Park Explosion Was SWAT Team Training: Sheriff

Patch has learned that the Thursday night explosion was the Will County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team breaching a wall in some training. "They blew a hole out of one of the walls," Deputy Chief Dan Jungles told Patch.

SWAT officers blew a hole in the wall below the "Sheriff's Dept. Will County" lettering in the old department building.

The public wasn't warned of the explosion because they didn't want people gathering around while the teams were training.

Jungles said people did call 911, but the fire stations were not notified because the dispatch center knew about the explosion.

Original Article:

JOLIET, IL — An explosion around Ingalls Park Thursday night rocked the area, according to reports. Patch received a tip from a reader, who said the explosion shook her house and was around 8 p.m.

East Joliet Fire Protection District Chief Robert Scholtes Jr. heard the explosion, but says his firefighters didn't get any calls about it. "We don't know what it was at all. We had no calls or anything," Scholtes told Patch.

"I heard the boom. It shook my house and scared my daughter," Scholtes said.

Joliet Fire Department Captain Fred Offerman checked all of the calls in the city and found no records of calls in the Ingalls Park area around the time of the explosion.

Joliet police were not immediately available for comment.

The boom was heard as far away as New Lenox and Mokena, according to comments made in various neighborhood Facebook groups, with members speculating someone may have been setting off fireworks to celebrate Loyola University's win over Nevada in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Article image provided by Chief Deputy Dan Jungles