Two men remained hospitalized Wednesday as the manhunt continued for their shooter and frightened residents remained behind closed doors and with loaded weapons.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Garza, of Dyer, remained at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., in critical condition Wednesday morning, the Northwest Indiana Times reported, citing the man's great-aunt. A bullet entered his right eye and went out the back of his head, leaving bullet fragments in his brain.
One of Garza's colleagues, 45-year-old Rolando Alonso, of Hammond, Ind., was killed in the rampage at a construction site in Beecher on Tuesday. It was only his second day on the new job, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Farmer Keith Dahl also remains hospitalized. It's believed he was shot by the same man who shot Garza and Alonso.
The gunman remains at-large and should be considered armed and dangerous, authorities said. That's got residents on edge.
"Oh, yeah, everybody that I've talked to that has guns have [loaded theirs]," said one Beecher resident.
For the second day, all five schools of in the Tri-Creek School Corporation were closed.
"They're not even letting kids go to school until the guy is caught. So it's really kind of sad. But you know you kind of got to live like this," said Michelle Fasel of Lowell.
Investigators from Will County, Ill., and Lake County, Ind., said they're comparing bullets from the victims to try and determine if the gunman had more than one weapon.
They said they're also being flooded by tips and leads from residents. Many of them are unfounded. But it's not deterring authorities, who are working around-the-clock to put the gunman behind bars.
The suspect appears to be in his 40s and was last seen wearing a light green windbreaker, a ball cap, light-colored jeans and brown work boots.
"I think he's still here. I really do. I think he's hiding out," said Beecher resident Larry Whisenang. "There's so many places out here to hide."
