They got Him....
Suspect apprehended in state police shooting
By RYAN KEITH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Springfield police early Tuesday apprehended a 24-year-old man accused of marching into the state Capitol and killing an unarmed security guard the day before.
Derek W. Potts was arrested about 7:15 a.m. in Springfield, officer Carlos Sours said. Sours said he didn’t have any details about the arrest but that police would have a statement later.
Police have said they don’t know of a motive for the shooting.
“We have no idea why he came here and did this,” Col. Larry Schmidt, chief deputy director of the Secretary of State’s police force, said Monday.
Police described Potts as a white man, 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 125 pounds with dark hair. Potts is originally from Olney in downstate Illinois but now lives in Springfield.
Schmidt said Potts apparently drove up to the Capitol’s main entrance, walked in and shot the guard once in the chest. Then he left, stowed his weapon in his trunk and drove off with his tires squealing and witnesses shouting for help.
“I heard the blast,” tourist Steve Bubb of Peru told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Then, I saw this guy lowering an object that looked to be a gun, turn around and walk out the door.”
The Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office obtained an arrest warrant Monday night accusing Potts of murder, burglary and more, authorities said.
Police said they know of no connection between Potts and his victim, 51-year-old William Wozniak.
Wozniak, who had worked at the Capitol for 18 years, died in a hospital operating room shortly after the 1:38 p.m. shooting, Schmidt said.
Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, had known Wozniak for about 30 years. He said Wozniak had a wife and two teenage children and had moved to the small community of Petersburg decades ago to escape the violence of Detroit.
“What can you say? He was just real friendly and outgoing,” Brauer said. “To me it’s incredible that we have this guy that is in charge of security at the Capitol, and he’s there with no protection at all. And a guy comes in with a gun.”
The building doesn’t have metal detectors, and the security guards are unarmed.
Secretary of State Jesse White, who manages the Capitol, has asked lawmakers to approve the use of metal detectors and said he would push for them again, along with other security upgrades. Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he supports the idea.
Acting on a tip, police searched Potts’ apartment and said they recovered a shotgun that was stolen a week ago from a military surplus store. Police said they don’t know whether the shotgun was used in the Statehouse shooting. Shortly before the shooting, someone matching Potts’ description returned to the same store and tried to steal more weapons but fled when the owner recognized him, police said.
The Capitol was locked down for about an hour after the shooting. When it reopened, visitors were required to sign in and out, and state police in military-style green uniforms patrolled the grounds. White said more security precautions would be in place Tuesday.
The attack happened quickly, with the gunman entering the north entrance just long enough to fire a shot that hit the guard in the chest, Schmidt said.
Patti Kernebeck, a computer operator for the state Senate, said she heard the sound of the gun in her fourth floor office. Then she heard shouts of “He shot somebody! Get him!”
On the first floor, Leslie Root, who works for state Sen. Chris Lauzen, described the nearby gunshot inside the Capitol as sounding like a bomb going off. She said the staff rushed inside the office and locked the door.
No one saw the shooting take place but several people saw the suspect leaving, Schmidt said. Officials were also reviewing footage from surveillance cameras in the area, he said.
The Legislature was not in session. Gov. Rod Blagojevich was not in Springfield at the time but returned later to talk about the shooting, expressing sympathy to the victim’s family and calling for tighter security.
“We will not allow cold-blooded killers to keep our people away from their government,” the governor said.
White, who oversees security at the Capitol, called Wozniak “a wonderful gentleman” and said he had visited his widow to offer his sympathies. He said security options include arming the guards, equipping them with bulletproof vests and training them in subduing dangerous people.
Police said the shooting appeared to be linked to an attempted robbery earlier in the day. Someone matching the description of the Capitol shooter and carrying a 12-gauge shotgun went into a nearby military surplus store, Birds N Brooks, at about 12:25 p.m. and demanded a high-powered rifle.
The would-be robber fled, police said, and the shop owner locked himself in his office and began shooting through the door, injuring his son in the arm.
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Associated Press reporters Christopher Wills in Springfield and Nicole Ziegler Dizon, Anna Johnson and Megan Reichgott in Chicago contributed to this report.
