Gunshots, Racial Slurs Came Before Lockport Township Hate Crime Shooting: Prosecutor

LOCKPORT TOWNSHIP — A long-standing feud involving 70-year-old Lockport Township resident John Shadbar and his next door neighbor, a 45-year-old white woman who has a 21-year-old African-American son, has resulted in charges of attempted murder, a hate crime and seven additional offenses.

On Thursday afternoon, Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins heard evidence from Will County prosecutor Tricia McKenna revealing that Shadbar frequently called the 45-year-old woman a "(racial slur) lover." On Tuesday, Shadbar shot the woman in the stomach with a rifle, according to the courtroom testimony.

Related: Attempted Murder Charges Filed Against Man, 70, In 'Racially Motivated' Shooting

Multiple neighbors told Will County Sheriff's police that Shadbar is a known racist, and they know him as "Pistol Pete," the judge was told.

Tuesday evening's shooting left the 45-year-old woman hospitalized with damage to her colon, spleen and ribs, McKenna revealed. The victim was shot in her backyard, and then she crawled on all fours, into her kitchen, moaning that she was shot, according to McKenna. A woman in her 40s who also lives at the victim's house called 911.

Besides shooting the woman in the stomach, Shadbar shot the woman in her hand and her hand also has significant damage, according to prosecutors. The hate crime defendant also shot out one of his victim's windows at her house, McKenna pointed out.

At least two neighbors interviewed by Will County sheriff's deputies indicated that Shadbar and the shooting victim "do not like each other," McKenna told the judge.

Prior to Tuesday's 5:37 p.m. shooting, Shadbar had awoken up from his nap and complained to his wife about his cataracts and he was crabby, so she got him vodka to calm him down, McKenna told Judge DeWilkins.

Later, Shadbar's 50-year-old wife heard gunshots from outside, then heard her husband return to their house, yelling, "F*** this, and f***that" as he began tearing apart and ripping down their kitchen's cabinets, the prosecutor said.

Shadbar's wife told police that she owns a Glock and a revolver and she "did not know the defendant had a long gun," McKenna noted.

McKenna also indicated that Shadbar's wife has worked for 18 years as a corrections officer for Cook County, and she claimed no knowledge that her husband possessed several guns, shotguns and rifles. The Shadbars have been married since 2009.

Officials said Shadbar's wife refused to consent to a police search of the Shadbars' house after the shooting, so the Will County Sheriff's Office had to obtain a search warrant to do that. The rifle used to shoot the next door neighbor in the stomach was found between the Shadbars' mattress and box spring of the bed, and numerous boxes of ammunition, a shotgun and two rifles were discovered hidden in the paneling of his garage, McKenna informed the judge.

Shadbar learned Thursday afternoon that he now faces a total of nine charges, including several counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Shadbar's criminal history includes at least three separate violent incidents, the judge noted, saying those crimes happened back in the 1980s and 1970s.

Shadbar's felony conviction happened in the 1970s, making him ineligible to possess any guns.

McKenna convinced Judge DeWilkins to deny pretrial release for Shadbar. She explained that although the 45-year-old Lockport Township woman who was shot is white, Shadbar frequently tormented her, frequently yelling at her, calling her "(racial slur) lover."

The woman has a 21-year-old son who is African-American; he told sheriff's deputies that he lives at the house with his mother and that Shadbar has had issues with his him and his mother, calling his mother a "(racial slur) lover on prior occasions and has called him a (racial slur) on a prior occasion," court records show. Once, prosecutors said, Shadbar confronted the 21-year-old Black man while holding an AK-47, and Shadbar "has thrown M80s into their backyard and fired blank rounds toward the residence in the past." The victim's son had left the house at 5 a.m. and was not home when his mother was shot, prosecutors noted.

The woman who is staying at the shooting victim's house told police that Shadbar, who is known as "Pete," yelled a racial slur about a month ago, and Shadbar threw an M-80 firework over the fence into their yard. She said a Will County Sheriff's police report was taken of that incident.

A short time later, Shadbar pointed a gun at the other woman who is now staying next door and yelled a racial slur and "whore" at her, court documents show.

Shadbar often shoots his gun down his driveway and claimed he was shooting coyotes in the woods, prosecutors said.

On May 7, the date of the shooting, the two women who lived next door to Shadbar were outside in the backyard and their sons were jumping on a trampoline when "out of nowhere, defendant began revving his motorcycle engine." This prompted the victim to blow an air horn in Shadbar's direction, prompting him to exclaim, "there's going to be dead (racial slurs) today," the prosecutor outlined.

One of the women, scared, brought the children inside, and Shadbar threw an Ice Mountain bottle over the fence into their yard, prosecutors said. Moments later, she and the children heard several gunshots, and the shots became louder and louder and did not sound like blanks. After being shot, the 45-year-old woman crawled back into her house, moaning to her roommate that Shadbar shot her. The roommate saw Shadbar walk past their window with an AK-47 rifle type gun, according to prosecutors.

During Thursday's hearing, Shadbar informed the judge that he plans to hire his own private criminal defense counsel to represent him moving forward.

One of the Will County Public Defenders who represented Shadbar for Thursday's hearing said he has a significant amount of money. Shadbar is retired from 3M, where he worked for 30 years as a systems analyst, the judge heard.

Will County Public Defender Jason Strzelecki asked the judge to grant his client pretrial release rather than keep him locked up at the Will County Jail. The public defender said that Shadbar had "a significant amount of money to relocate to a hotel or other such residence."

The fact that the Will County Sheriff's deputies already seized his client's ammunition and guns indicates Shadbar won't pose any further danger to his next door neighbors, according to Strzelecki, who informed the judge that Shadbar told him he has no drug or alcohol problems.

Also, Shadbar scored at a 3 when the Will County Pretrial Services staff evaluated him this week, classifying Shadbar as "low to moderate risk to comply with pretrial release," according to Strzelecki.

"He can drive himself back and forth to court," the public defender explained. "He does not pose a significant danger ... I would think the neighbors should be safe."

Judge DeWilkins disagreed, declaring he found by clear and convincing evidence that all of Shadbar's next door neighbors plus the community at large could find themselves in danger if Shadbar is released from the Will County Jail right now.

"Obviously, this isn't something just in the heat of the moment," the judge announced. "It was an ongoing issue. It wasn't the first time there was an issue ... and (he) shot the victim at least one time, shot in the stomach."

Shadbar's preliminary hearing was set for May 23 in Courtroom 405, which is now occupied by Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak now that Dave Carlson is no longer a judge.