Investigation "very active" three weeks after Lt. Gliniewicz shot to death; no one in custody
FOX LAKE, Illinois -- Three weeks after Lt. Joe Gliniewicz with the Fox Lake Police Department was shot to death, investigators have revealed little about their investigation.
Lt. Joe Gliniewicz
Chris Covelli, spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff's Office updated the media on this investigation on Monday evening, September 21st. Covelli said the investigation is "very active," and that Lt. Gliniewicz's death continues to be investigated as a homicide.
Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd has said he has been unable to rule the case a homicide, a suicide or an accident — a stance that has deepened longstanding tensions between him and local law enforcement in the village of Fox Lake.
Rudd said Gliniewicz suffered a "single devastating" gunshot wound, and that he couldn't rule whether this was a homicide, a suicide or an accident.
Lt. Gliniewicz's son, Donald "D.J." Gliniewicz told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald (http://bit.ly/1UVryFP ) that his father "never once had a single suicidal thought in his life" and that his family is upset about any suggestion that he killed himself.
D.J. Gliniewicz echoed that statement when speaking with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday.
"I know my father. My family knows my father, and his closest friends know him well. He's not someone who ever contemplated suicide. He never had suicidal tendencies or anything like that. That's just a rumor, and that's that -- it is a rumor. It is something someone made up because they wanted to interpret the story on their own. I full-heartedly disagree with that statement, although I can't can't change that person, that individual's mind of creating that saying," D.J. Gliniewicz said.
Additionally, a local government official familiar with the investigation says the lieutenant was hit twice: once in his protective vest and once at an angle that allowed the bullet to enter his chest.
Lt. Joe Gliniewicz
The official says the fatal shot was fired from above the vest in a downward direction.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office says several shots were fired, but hasn't said whether any came from the officer's weapon or how many times Gliniewicz was hit.
Covelli said Monday there was a meeting between officials on a task force, the Lake County coroner and officials with the state's crime lab to "share information and make sure we're all on the same page." Covelli said these agencies will "continue to work together moving forward."
On the day he died, Lt. Gliniewicz radioed to a police dispatcher that he was in pursuit of three suspicious men. Moments later, fellow officers found his body and launched a manhunt for his killers.
Covelli told reporters they received lab results regarding ballistics and gunshot residue as recently as Monday. But they declined to offer details, saying the results did not support or exclude any theory in this case.
Additionally, Covelli said they've received up to 300 leads from members of the community, from the crime scene, and from investigators' work -- and "every lead will be diligently researched."
Covelli said Monday that a police dog had tracked away from the crime scene on the day Lt. Gliniewicz died, indicating at least one suspect in this case.
Authorities have said three men whose images were captured by a nearby home surveillance camera did not kill Gliniewicz.
DNA found at the scene came from Gliniewicz and an "unknown donor." That DNA is being run through a national database.
Officials have not been able to make any arrests in this case.
Lt. Joe Gliniewicz