Cornered in a subdivision cul-de-sac in Gurnee, a Milwaukee man opened fire on police Monday night, sparking a 10-minute gun battle that sent residents scurrying for cover, authorities said Tuesday.
The gunman, Tremell J. Celestine, 24, was fatally shot by police. Authorities said Celestine fatally shot a Navy veteran on a highway exit ramp before driving to the Providence Oaks subdivision, where he sprayed homes with gunfire and wounded a police officer, authorities said.
Residents in the cul-de-sac described a terrifying scene that began about 9:30 p.m. as Celestine, armed with a 9 mm handgun, exchanged shots with five police officers.
“My wife ran upstairs to get our [two] kids, and I stayed downstairs as we yelled at each other to stay low,” said Ken Carrano, whose house was hit by eight bullets, including one that struck the mattress in the master bedroom. Another lodged in a dining room wall. “First there was one shot, and for the next 10 or 15 minutes there was a lot of gunfire.”
Gurnee Officer Kevin Schreiner , 30, was wounded in the arm and shoulder and was recovering Tuesday after being released from a hospital, police said.
Shot in the head and left hip, Celestine was pronounced dead at 10:36 p.m. at St. Therese Medical Center in Waukegan, the Lake County coroner’s office said.
Authorities believe the rampage may have started at 9:10 p.m. Monday when a gunman fired at the car of a Lake Forest man who had stopped at a traffic light on Westleigh Road at U.S. Highway 41 in Lake Forest.
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The bullet, which lodged in the door frame, was fired from a 9 mm handgun, the same kind of weapon Celestine used, police said.
About 10 minutes later and 8 miles north along U.S. 41, John C. Pemberton III, 48, had just left Columbia College of Missouri in Park City, where he attended a class, when he pulled onto a highway ramp at Washington Street.
Pemberton, of Ft. Sheridan, had stopped his pickup truck when a gunman knocked out the driver’s side window and shot him in the head at close range, police said.
It was not known why Pemberton stopped or what led to the shooting, police said.
Pemberton was married to a Navy officer assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, friends said.
After shooting Pemberton, police said, the gunman headed east on Washington and sideswiped a car driven by James Brown, 48, a television production coordinator from Chicago.
Brown followed the driver for 4 miles through Park City, part of Waukegan and into Gurnee.
At one point, along Illinois Highway 120 in Waukegan, the man got out of his car and approached Brown with a handgun, Brown said.
“When I saw the gun, I put my car in reverse and started driving backward,” Brown said.
Continuing to follow the car, Brown finally stopped after Gurnee police told him over his cellphone to wait for an officer.
“I got a tongue-lashing from my fiance and my sister, both of whom think I was crazy for following this guy,” Brown said. “But you have someone out there who has a gun, I just couldn’t in clear conscience just ignore that.”
After turning into the subdivision, Celestine began randomly shooting at homes, said Gurnee Cmdr. Jay Patrick. At one point he got out of his vehicle and attempted to carjack a Gurnee woman, shooting at her car but missing as she drove away, police said.
Schreiner, the first officer on the scene, spotted Celestine’s car, a 1983 Buick LeSabre.
Celestine turned into a cul-de-sac on Cohasset Court and tried to flee, but his car got stuck in a muddy yard, police said.
Celestine began firing from his car at Schreiner, who was hit in the left biceps with the bullet exiting through his shoulder, Patrick said.
“Officer Schreiner was never down,” Patrick said.
“He got shot but he continued to fight.”
Four more officers arrived to help, exchanging shots with Celestine, who was hit twice, police said. Late Tuesday, police said they were not sure whether Celestine was still in the car when he was shot.
Celestine’s sister, Nicole Thomas of Kenosha, reported him missing Monday night, said Kenosha Police Lt. Kristine Fonk.
Thomas’ husband, Tyrone, said Tuesday that he and his wife last saw Celestine Monday afternoon in Kenosha.
“We knew something didn’t seem right with him,” said Tyrone Thomas. “The authorities were notified regarding Tremell, that he was missing and possibly experiencing a mental breakdown and needed medical attention.”
He was driving a friend’s car, according to Tyrone Thomas.
“He never had any issues, he was never involved in anything negative at home,” Tyrone Thomas said.
Police said they were still trying to sort out the details.
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“This is just one big circle of craziness,” Park City Police Chief Michael Luff said.
“We may never know what started it.”