Latest: Fox Lake police report details scene of Lt. Joe Gliniewicz's death
FOX LAKE, Illinois -- We're getting our first look at the initial police report on the death of Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz. Police reports, obtained by our sister station WGN, explains what responding officers saw when they got to the scene.
On the morning of September 1, Lt. Joe Gliniewicz sent word over his radio at 7:52 a.m. he was pursuing three suspicious men on foot. Three minutes later, he requested backup. Radio communication dropped off. Colleagues would not hear Gliniewicz's voice again.
Lt. Joe Gliniewicz
The backups arrived at about 8 a.m. and a few minutes later found Gliniewicz dead.
According to WGN, the first officers who responded to Gliniewicz's call for assistance entered the Old Road from opposite sides. As they approached the scene, meeting in the middle, the police report says they heard a single gunshot.
Down a footpath off the Old Cement Company Road, toward a swamp, officers found Lt. Gliniewicz face down and dead. His body was roughly 50 yards from his cruiser, police said. Officials say he was bleeding from his nose and neck. His radio was at his feet.
The police reports state Gliniewicz's cellphone was still in his vest. His hand was empty, in a position as if he was possibly holding a gun. Gliniewicz's holster was empty but officials didn't see his gun -- which was later found two feet away in the tall grass.
Because the responding officers didn't initially see Gliniewicz's gun, they became worried that a shooter was loose and near them. As a result, they took cover, looked for any sign of movement and kicked off a massive manhunt that lasted for hours.
More than 400 law enforcement officers raked through the heavy woods near Fox Lake on foot, all-terrain vehicles and horseback.
After his death, Gliniewicz was hailed a hero -- a police officer killed in the line of duty. A massive manhunt ensued for the three suspects Gliniewicz had indicated he was investigating at the time of his death. Gliniewicz had radioed that he was following three suspects -- two males white, one male black.
Lt. Joe Gliniewicz funeral
Three people who appeared in a surveillance video near the crime scene were eventually cleared of any suspicion.
Two months after Lt. Gliniewicz died, investigators said they had concluded his September 1st death was a "carefully staged suicide," made to look like a homicide in an attempt to cover up years of corruption.
Investigators say he took his own life in an effort to cover up years of theft and money laundering from the Fox Lake Police Department's Explorers program -- a program he led. Investigators say an audit being done by the village administrator had Gliniewicz nervous.