Major Break in the Case? Possible Video of Cop Killers Surfaces

Possible video of three men wanted for killing a beloved Fox Lake cop has emerged and was turned over to the Department of Homeland Security.

The video was taken by a home security camera on a residence near the scene of police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz’s Tuesday morning murder. The homeowner came forward with the video Wednesday night, said George Filenko, the commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.

Police have yet to review the video and must wait until Homeland Security recovers it from a hard drive, Filenko said. The commander also said the homeowner provided a description of the three men but he would not reveal anything about it. So far, police have only said two of the men are white and one is black.

Filenko also said Gliniewicz’s pistol has been recovered but would not say where it was found or if it had been used to kill the veteran cop.

When asked if tests were performed to determine whether Gliniewicz fired the weapon, Filenko said, “We’re thorough. I’ll leave it at that.”

Gliniewicz, 52, was killed shortly after he started his shift Tuesday morning. He radioed in that he had spotted two white men and a black man in a remote area of the small, northern Illinois town. Gliniewicz determined they were “suspicious” and went to confront them, police said.

Gliniewicz called for backup and said the men were running into a swamp. Two officers arrived to assist Gliniewicz and found him shot to death on the ground.

A force of 400 police officers scoured a two-square-mile area for 14 hours after Gliniewicz was killed. The search continued Wednesday with 100 police, federal agents and marshals probing a larger area of Fox Lake.

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The law is hunting the killers again Thursday.

Filenko said investigators are following up on other promising leads as well and are working under the premise the killers are from the immediate area.

Filenko also spoke on the damage done by an attention-starved nanny who allegedly called in a phony tip about two men attacking her on a road south of Fox Lake.

“It tied up a number of resources, including my detectives, who were called in and put on standby,” he said. “They could have been out in the field following up on leads. Instead we were waiting for something we thought to be something significant.”