Authorities in Will County tried to stop a man from injuring his 70-year-old grandfather Saturday afternoon, but the 21-year-old carried out his threat, fatally attacking his relative and prompting sheriff’s deputies to fatally shoot the younger man, officials said.
Members of the Will County sheriff’s office were called to a home in the 300 block of Middletree Road in Joliet Township around 4 p.m. in response to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance, said Deputy Chief Dan Jungles. A man called and said his 21-year-old brother “was armed with a knife and threatening his grandfather,” according to a news release from Jungles.
A 911 dispatcher at the Laraway Communications Center stayed on the phone and heard an argument going on in the background for several minutes, officials said. Meanwhile, deputies headed toward the address, arriving at 4:07 p.m., Jungles said.
The 21-year-old, later identified as Jabbar Muhammad, was seen by deputies “brandishing a knife and threatening his grandfather,” later identified as Eldred Wells, 70, of Joliet, Jungles said. Those deputies tried to “calm (Muhammad) down and ordered him to put the knife down,” according to the statement.
Instead, Muhammad allegedly “lunged at his grandfather with the knife, stabbing (Wells) in the neck.”
“Deputies fired their service weapons, in defense of (Wells’) life. (Muhammad) was shot several times by responding deputies. After being shot, (Muhammad) continued to stab his grandfather in the neck, and deputies fired their service weapons several more times,” according to the statement.
Deputies called for an ambulance and immediately tried to save both Wells and Muhammad. Paramedics from the East Joliet Fire Department arrived and continued with “lifesaving measures,” but they were unsuccessful.
Wells was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. Muhammad was pronounced dead at the scene.
A major crimes task force from Will and Grundy counties will serve as the investigating agency.
Jungles did not provide additional information, such as how many deputies fired at Muhammad or how many times he was struck.
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