Sept. 08--Police say they have recovered DNA from where Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was shot and killed last week and are running it through national databases and comparing it with samples swabbed from more than 50 people during the investigation.
The DNA is not from the officer "so that raises a red flag," Lake County Major Crimes Task Force George Filenko said at a news conference Tuesday.
He would not say whether the DNA was from blood or other material. "It was recovered from the crime scene and it is relevant," Filenko said.
The commander also disclosed that three people seen on surveillance video from the area have been questioned and are no longer believed to be suspects in the officer's death.
Before he was found shot to death last week Tuesday, Gliniewicz radioed that he was pursuing three men. He gave no descriptions other than two were white and one was black.
Numerous questions still surround the death of Gliniewicz, , 52, who was laid to rest Monday, six days after his body was discovered in a swampy area, his gun retrieved nearby.
Authorities have declined to release results of the autopsy while the investigation is underway.
They have not said where or how many times he was shot, if he was killed with his own weapon and how far away the 40-caliber firearm was from his body.
Also unknown is why, after reporting suspicious activity, Gliniewicz chose to chase the three men without waiting for backup help. Officials say are unsure if the suspects fled on foot or if they had a vehicle.
Authorities also have said they believe the suspects remain in the Fox Lake area, but not explained how they reached that conclusion.
Filenko said Tuesday that authorities were "still proceeding as if it were a homicide."
Mayor Donny Schmit has said Gliniewicz told him he planned to retire in September, and that the officer shared concern about whether the youth program, Explorers, would continue without him. Gliniewicz had offered volunteer support for the group for years, and it is unclear why he no longer planned to lead the group after retirement.
The police department has been in turmoil before the shooting, with new leadership named days after the shooting.
Fox Lake's previous chief, Michael Behan, announced his retirement last month, less than a week after he was put on paid administrative leave during a village investigation into an altercation between an officer and a man who was arrested last year, according to a news release from the village. The police officer, who was not identified, has also been placed on paid administrative leave.
On Monday, officers in more than 1,000 police squads and motorcycles from as far away as California and New York came to the Fox Lake area to honor Gliniewicz during a day-long memorial and funeral, capped by an 18-mile procession to the cemetery.
Gliniewicz, 52, had been on patrol when he radioed that he was responding to suspicious activity around 8 a.m. last Tuesday, according to authorities. He reported that he was starting a foot pursuit of three subjects, but no one heard from him after that, authorities said.
His colleagues responded and found him shot in a marshy area near U.S. Highway 12, a main road through town. Gliniewicz died at the scene.
While appealing to the public for tips, police expressed optimism that evidence from the crime scene and videos provided by area residents and businesses would provide answers.
