'If I Knew How to Load This Gun, I'd Kill You:' Police Find Weapons During Domestic Fight

Riverside police called to the scene of a domestic dispute Oct. 27 arrested a woman for unlawful possession of seven guns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Susan D. Remiyas, 51 of the 300 block of East Quincy Street in Riverside, was charged with domestic battery, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of ammunition and possession of ammunition and weapons without a FOID card, according to Riverside police.

Remiyas’ husband called 911 at 10:44 p.m. Oct. 27 to report a fight in their apartment with guns involved. He was outside the apartment when he called police, and his wife was inside with the weapons.

When officers arrived, the husband said there had been a physical fight, and his wife had gone upstairs to recover. She then came downstairs, pointed a revolver at him and said, “If I knew how to load this gun, I’d kill you,” police reported.

Police set up a perimeter and called the Lyons Police Department for assistance. Remiyas came out from the back of the building, and she was taken into custody. She told police she has never owned any weapons.

The husband gave police permission to search the apartment, where they found five rifles and shotguns and two handguns, along with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition. A handgun found in the living room was fully loaded with one round in the chamber, police reported. The other weapons weren’t loaded. Remiyas didn’t have a FOID card, and neither did her husband.

Police determined both Remiyas and her husband were drunk during the fight, and they “became very uncooperative” during the investigation, police reported.

Remiyas refused to be taken to a hospital for a finger injury that happened while she was hitting her husband.

Investigators are running the serial numbers on the guns and tracing their histories. The handguns will be sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab to be tested for unsolved crimes.

The confiscated weapons included a Keltec 9mm semi-automatic handgun, a Raven Arms .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun, two Winchester rifles, a High Standard 12 GA shotgun and a J.C. Higgins 12 GA shotgun and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, including 700 rounds of Winchester 9mm Luger bullets.

Photos via the Riverside Police Department.