Lightning Strike Kills Illinois Fisherman

Police say the 29-year-old man was fishing with friends when he was struck

A suburban Chicago man died after being struck by lightning while fishing in central Illinois.

Shelby County Coroner Brian Green identified the man as 29-year-old Jonathon D. Olisio of Mokena. The coroner says Olisio died Sunday afternoon at Shelby Memorial Hospital in Shelbyville, about 35 miles south of Decatur.

Authorities say Olisio was fishing with friends near the Lake Shelbyville Dam on the Kaskaskia River when he was struck. No one else was injured.

Olisio and three friends waited out a rainstorm before returning to the water to fish, friends told NBC Chicago Tuesday.

When the storm began turning severe the group began to pack up, but lightning struck, throwing them to the ground. 

"It was like a sonic boom through my body," said Nick Pappas, who was fishing with Olisio at the time the lightening struck. "It was really intense. I honestly didn't think it had hit anyone."

Olisio was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

"I just wish it wasn't him," Pappas said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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