Update: The suspect in last weekend’s incident has been identified as Antonio Wilson, 35, of Freeport. Polices say he killed a 19-year-old man and wounded two other people.  A high-powered weapon, able to penetrate walls, was used by the suspect in a firefight with officers.

By Jim Hagerty
Reporter

ROCKFORD – An hours-long standoff with a suspect in a fatal shooting at an east-side hotel is over after police say the gunman killed himself.

Rockford Police Chief Dan O’Shea said officers arrived at the Super 8, 7646 Colosseum Drive, at around 12:40 a.m., and located three victims he says were shot by the suspect. Two women were wounded while the other, a male, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Responding officers evacuated the hotel and then exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who had barricaded himself inside a room. Officers forced their way inside at around 7 a.m., and located the shooter, O’Shea said.

“All of this remains to be proven and worked on,” the chief said. “The coroner will have to do an autopsy. We did have officers fire back at the suspect with all the exchange of gunfire. We want to make sure and determine what exactly happened the best we can. But at this point, it appears he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

O’Shea said early information indicates the initial shooting stemmed from a domestic incident and that those involved do not live in Rockford.

The wounded victims are expected to survive. No officers were injured.

“They did what they were trained to do,” O’Shea said. “They did very well.”

The incident marks Rockford’s eighth homicide of the year, the second within a few hours. At 10 p.m., Saturday, a 21-year-old man was killed near the Stop-N-Go on Charles Street.

O’Shea acknowledged a recent uptick in violence but said he does not know what is setting it off. But he said preventative initiatives to curb violent crimes is showing results.

“The last I’ve heard, they’ve recovered four more guns (in) preventative measures,” he said. “We are going after violence reduction. But, right now, this incident, this one’s done for now. Now we’ll do all the investigation on the back end. (Detectives) will be here for hours.”