CHICAGO (CBS) — A man wanted for killing three people in central Illinois was shot and killed by police overnight in the western suburb of Berwyn.
Three family members were shot and killed Thursday evening in Mahomet, near Champaign. Hours later, the suspected gunman found himself in a shootout with police in Berwyn, about 140 miles north of Mahomet.
What happened in between was frightening and bizarre. Police say the man didn’t just kill two dogs, according to white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes
On Wednesday around 9:40 p.m., police in Mahomet were called to a home in the 1100 block of Riverside Drive where several people had been shot.
According to police, officers found three people with life-threatening gunshot wounds.
One victim, 26-year-old Sara Mason, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the Champaign County Coroner’s office. Two others – 61-year-old Janis L. Mason and 23-year-old Caleb M. Mason – were taken to Carle Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Around 11:40 p.m., officers in Berwyn responded to a call of a man with a gun in the 1800 block of Home Avenue.
Officers spotted Lyons, who ran and entered a home a block away on the 1800 block of Wenonah Avenue, where he shot and killed two dogs, according to police. Officers then saw him flee into a nearby yard on the 1800 block of Home Avenue.
Police ordered Lyons to stop, but he opened fire on officers, who returned fire, killing him.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes posted a video claiming he was the intended target in Berwyn. The doorbell camera video in his post shows someone with a gun and what appears to be a crossbow outside Fuentes’ home, and the time stamp on that video is about 10 minutes before police said they received a call about Lyons.
Police have not linked Lyon to the incident at Fuentes’ home.
Lyon’s motive for the Mahomet shooting and his connection to the victims remained unclear Thursday afternoon.
The Champaign County Coroner’s Office, Mahomet Police Department and Illinois State Police investigated the triple homicide. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force investigated the police shooting in Berwyn.
