WI Man Arrested After Random Shootings Near Antioch

LAKE COUNTY, IL — A Wisconsin man is being held at the Lake County Jail on a $75,000 bail after he drove through a subdivision near Antioch and fired his gun on two different days in late August. Authorities were called to the Channel Lake subdivision in unincorporated Antioch on Aug. 27 and Aug. 31 to investigate the gunshot reports and found .22 LR shell casings, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies received a description of the shooter's vehicle and linked it back to a recent traffic crash that occurred in Antioch, according to authorities. The driver in that crash, Joseph Engmark, 41, of Trevor, Wis., also was arrested in 2018 following the burglary of a 22LR rifle in the 43300 block of North Melva Avenue in unincorporated Antioch.

Police say the description of Engmark given following the burglary matched the description given of the person involved in the Channel Lake subdivision shooting. Deputies pulled Engmark's vehicle over on Tiffany Road near Route 173 in Antioch. He was arrested on two active arrest warrants, and deputies found a stolen .22LR in his vehicle, according to the news release.

The random shootings in the neighborhood near Antioch occurred in the days following the arrest of Kyle Rittenhouse, 19, of Antioch. Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting two in Kenosha, Wis., during protests following the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake.

Engmark did not give a reason for choosing to fire his gun into the Channel Lake subdivision, Lake County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Christopher Covelli told Patch. And it does not appear that Rittenhouse's arrest or the shootings in the Channel Lake subdivision are connected, he said.

But the random shootings did cause serious concern among those living in the neighborhood, according to authorities.

“I am extraordinarily proud of these patrol deputies for working diligently to identify and apprehend this man who was randomly driving through a neighborhood, firing a gun, and traumatizing the community," Lake County Sheriff Sheriff John Idleburg said.

Engmark has been charged with two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful use of a weapon and driving with a revoked driver's license. Engmark remains in custody Monday on a $75,000 bail and he is next expected in court on Oct. 7.