Man who fell asleep in stranger's house in Elgin shot by homeowner

Chicago Tribune

01-05-2025

An Elgin resident who confronted and shot a man he found sleeping in his home Sunday will not be charged in the incident, Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser said.
Neither will the victim, who apparently had been attending and then left some sort of gathering in the 100 block of Commonwealth Avenue only to return to the wrong house, where he let himself in and fell asleep, Mosser said.
The shooting occurred after the resident, 79, got into a verbal and physical fight with the 29-year-old man, resulting in the resident firing his gun, according to an Elgin Police Department news release posted on Facebook. The man was taken to an area hospital but the extent of his injury has not been disclosed.
'When looking at charging an individual, we need to also review whether there are any defenses present,' Mosser said. 'In this case, based on all of the facts presented, the homeowner had a reasonable belief that he needed to defend himself.'
While 'the facts showed that (the 29-year-old man) went into the home mistakenly while intoxicated and fell asleep,' the resident chose not to file charges, she said.
The incident was a confusing one because police initially posted a Facebook message Sunday morning to alert residents to a large police presence in the 100 block of South DuBois Avenue. That was later updated to the 100 block of South Commonwealth Avenue about two blocks away, near Abbott Park.
However, the shooting occurred sometime before 9 a.m. in the 800 block of Carr Street, which is more than three blocks away.
While initially saying Sunday that the incidents were related, the connection was not made clear until details of the shooting were disclosed nearly three days later. The police department's SWAT team had been called in, but no information on why they were needed or why police were called about the gathering have been released.
When more details were requested by The Courier-News, the newspaper was told to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the police report, which it has done.
Mosser said the case is considered closed on her end because no charges will be filed.