Shorewood Man Shoots His Gun After Joliet Fender Bender: JPD

JOLIET, IL — A 63-year-old man from Shorewood is now in the Will County Jail after Joliet police say Leif Eckersberg fired his gun into the air and pointed his gun at two people suspected of backing into his Lincoln MKZ in the GameStop parking lot in the 2400 block of West Jefferson Street.

Joliet police took Eckersberg into custody late Monday afternoon on charges of reckless discharge of a gun, aggravated assault and reckless conduct.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English, the following events led to Eckersberg's arrest:

• Around 2:40 p.m., officers were sent to the 400 block of Campbell Street for a man pointing a handgun at someone.
• Police learned that while in the parking lot of GameStop in the 2400 block of West Jefferson Street, a BMW with two people inside had accidentally backed into Eckersberg’s Lincoln MKZ.
• The two men in the BMW then left the scene without providing information.
• Eckersberg then followed the BMW to the 400 block of Campbell Street, where the BMW pulled over.
• Once the two men exited the BMW, it is believed Eckersberg exited his vehicle, drew a handgun and fired one round in the air before pointing his handgun at the two men.
• The BMW driver sped off, however, his passenger remained on the scene at gunpoint.
• Officers took Eckersberg into custody without incident. A loaded handgun and a spent shell casing were recovered from the scene.
• Eckersberg held an active concealed carry license at the time of this incident.

Will County Jail records listed Eckersberg as being from the far east side of Joliet, in the 100 block of Walden Road. However, court records, which are usually are reliable, had him as being a resident of the 600 block of Shorewood's Ca Crest Drive, which is near Black Road.