Chicago mass shooting leaves two dead and more than a dozen injured

At least ten people have been killed in a series of Halloween party shootings including two 22-year-olds who died after gunmen fired into a crowded garden while revelers celebrated at a Halloween party in a Chicago suburb.  

There have been at least seven shootings, including two in Texas, three in California, one in New Mexico and one in Illinois.

In the latest shooting, Will County Sheriff’s Office said a patrol sergeant heard 10-12 gunshots in Joliet Township just after 12.30am on Sunday morning, according to Fox News. 

The sheriff’s office said the patrol sergeant saw more than 100 people fleeing the house party where the gunfire was heard and he was told the shooting happened in the backyard at 1018 Jackson Street.  

Authorities said more officers arrived and found victims at homes nearby and in the backyard and more shots were heard.

Will County Sheriff’s Office said there were two people confirmed dead, more than a dozen hospitalized and four others seriously hurt after the shooting at the party.  

Jonathan Ceballos (pictured left) and Holly Matthews (pictured right) were killed in the Halloween party shooting in Joliet Township on Sunday morning

It has been confirmed by the families of Holly Matthews and Jonathan Ceballos, 22, that they were the two people who died in the shooting.

According to ABC 7 Eyewitness news, Matthews was newly engaged and studying to be an arborist.

She was with her friends at another party in Frankfort when they decided to go to the Joliet Township party.

They were there briefly and decided to leave when the men began firing shots at attendees from ‘an elevated position’ in the backyard near the DJ booth. 

Holly’s father Stephen Matthews told ABC 7 Eyewitness News:  ‘She was just a young girl in a costume for a Halloween party. Lost her life for no reason.’

A party guest called Nathan, who was a friend of Ceballos, said he was a good person and a straight-A student.

Witnesses were left astonished and shell-shocked by the shooting. 

One, Adolfo Sandoval, a party guest, told 5 Chicago: ‘Everyone was having a good time, we were back there dancing, and then all of the sudden a group of people just started firing shots, and everyone fell to the floor. 

‘When they started shooting, I felt the ricochet of the bullets and when I started feeling them I pushed my girlfriend to the side and I fell with her.

‘As I’m getting back up people just started stomping on me, running me over.’

 Two other guests said they heard ‘popping sounds’ and saw a ‘wave’ of people running out of the party for their lives.

They said everybody was scrambling over each other and climbed over a man in front of them on the floor.

People were unsure as to what happened or why the shooting began as they did not know the men and they were not invited to the party. 

It was estimated by officers that the Halloween party had about 200 attendees. 

Police were told by witnesses that they thought two shooters were behind the Chicago incident. 

 According to 5 Chicago, officials are looking for a man described as a Hispanic male who has facial hair.

He wore a red hoodie, black flat-billed hat and dark pants.

The second man authorities are searching for was described as a Black male or Hispanic man who is ‘averaged-sized’ and ‘light-skinned’.

 It is believed he was wearing a yellow hoodie and a ski mask.  

Will County Sheriff’s office told Fox News: ‘This investigation is in its early stages, and Will County Sheriff’s Office personnel are still on scene preserving the crime scene and collecting evidence.’

Anyone with relevant information about the Chicago shootings is asked to contact Detective Danielle Strohm at 815-727-8574 or [email protected].  

Police make enquiries at the scene of the shooting in Joliet Township (pictured)

Officers continue to make enquiries into the shooting at the scene (pictured)