By Hal Dardick, The Chicago Tribune
Three men charged in an Aurora home invasion not only shot their victim but also themselves, according to authorities.
Police aren’t sure how it happened, but forensic evidence shows the suspects were wounded by their own gunfire, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said. The evidence includes the nature of their wounds and where shell casings were found in the victim’s home, he said.
“Have suspects shot themselves before in the commission of a crime? Yes, it’s happened,” Ferrelli said. “But it certainly is unusual, and it’s even more unusual for three suspects to shoot themselves.”
The three Aurora men--Kevin House, 31, of the 900 block of Alyce Lane; Patrick Dawkins, 32, of the 1900 block of Selmarten Road; and Kenneth I. Powell, 30, of the 700 block of Latham Street--were being held Sunday in lieu of $250,000 bail each at Kane County Jail. They were charged with home invasion in what police said might have been a drug-related crime.
According to police, the men entered a home Friday morning in the 900 block of Alyce and opened fire on a 23-year-old man, wounding him before sustaining their own injuries as they tried to flee.
The man in the house was listed in stable condition Sunday in Mercy Center in Aurora, a nursing supervisor said. He was shot in the arm and side and had a bullet lodged in his abdomen, police said.
After the invasion, the wounded suspects allegedly drove to an apartment less than a half-mile away and called police. When officers arrived, they found House shot in the buttocks, Powell in the calf and Dawkins in the hand and foot. They were treated at Mercy and released to police custody.
The men said they were shot at a west side intersection, but police said they found no evidence of gunfire there. Police were uncertain whether the wounds were self-inflicted or the result of the suspects shooting each other.
“With all three shooting themselves, it undoubtedly helped bring a rather quick resolution to the case,” Ferrelli said.