Chief of Police Leroy Gilbert

Leroy Gilbert

Chief Leroy Gilbert was killed while he sat in a rocking chair in the living room of his home as he read a newspaper.

At 10:00 pm, at least two unknown suspects exited an automobile which they had parked at the curb near Chief Gilbert's residence on South Commerical Avenue. As their footprints in the snow later revealed, one suspect leveled a sawed-off shotgun on a side window ledge, taking aim as three charges were fired before they fled the scene.

Chief Gilbert was fatally shot in the head and his wife, who was sitting on a couch, was shot in the right hand that severed a finger.

Initially, two subjects who Chief Gilbert had arrested two weeks earlier for transporting 45 five-gallon cans of illegal alcohol were suspected of the shootings, but both men were in the county jail at the time. Although authorities continued to believe the motive was due to Chief Gilbert's local enforcement of illegal liquor and vice operations, the case was never solved.

Chief Gilbert had served with the South Chicago Heights Police Department as chief for only six months. He was survived by his wife, five children, ranging from four to 13 years of age, and two brothers.