A trucker was losing his job Tuesday when he went to work in Burr Ridge and fatally shot his boss, then went to another former employer and wounded a co-worker before taking his own life, police said.
The series of shootings began around 3 p.m., when Jeremy Jerome Spicer entered Winner’s Freight at 16W475 South Frontage Road and shot his former boss, Burr Ridge Deputy Chief Marc Loftus told reporters Wednesday.
That supervisor — 30-year-old Nicola Misovic from Willowbrook — was taken to Hinsdale Hospital and pronounced dead.
Spicer, 31, then went to another company, Force Logistics, and shot a 31-year-old woman that he had worked with, Loftus said. She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and underwent surgery for a leg wound.
As police responded to those two shootings, Spicer went to a third former workplace and asked for the boss but was told they weren’t there, Loftus said.
Spicer then walked a mile and asked to use a business’ restroom, but was shooed away by the employees after he stayed inside for 20 minutes and made them suspicious, Loftus said.
Spicer left the building at 7940 Madison and sat outside nearby as employees called police. The first officer arrived and, noticing Spicer’s handgun, took cover behind a vehicle and heard a gunshot, Loftus said. Spicer had fatally shot himself with a Glock .40-caliber gun.
“This tragic loss of life did not have to happen,” Loftus said. “It’s an unfortunate occurrence of workplace violence.”
Police did not comment on a motive behind the shooting, but said Spicer was being fired after working for a week at Winner’s Freight.
He had delivered one load for the company, but there was disagreement about if he was going to deliver another one and he was told he would be let go, Loftus said.
Spicer had come to the Chicago area from his home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and had stayed for the last week at LaQuinta Inn in Willowbrook, Loftus said.
His only known prior arrest was a domestic battery charge in Arkansas, police said. Spicer did not have a Firearm Owners Identification card in Illinois. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was tracing the origin of his firearm, Loftus said.
Police executed a search warrant at Spicer’s hotel room, where they allegedly found an empty holster.
In 2019, a disgruntled former employee shot and killed five people at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora.
