Illinois State Police officers search for Scott Peters, 52, a suspect in the shooting of two McHenry County Sheriff's deputies in a home Holiday Hills, Ill., early Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Daily Herald, Brian Hill)CHICAGO - Authorities searching for a man suspected of shooting two sheriff's deputies in suburban Chicago early Thursday say he is likely carrying a rifle and should be considered "armed and extremely dangerous."
Investigators believe that 52-year-old Scott Peters fled after firing a rifle through the front door when deputies arrived at his home in Holiday Hills around 1:30 a.m., McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said. The deputies, who remain hospitalized, were responding to a call about a domestic disturbance.
"We simply don't know his whereabouts at this time," Nygren said Thursday afternoon, adding that "many, many" deputies were involved in the search.
When the deputies arrived, Peters fired "several rounds through the door without opening it and kept firing through the open door," Nygren said. Peters' wife and child were in the home at the time but uninjured, the sheriff said.
Nygren said it was unclear how Peters escaped and where he may have gone, noting that all of the family's vehicles were accounted for.
One deputy was shot in the torso and leg, and he was listed in serious condition after undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital, Nygren said. The sheriff declined to provide additional information, but said the deputy was a 7-year veteran of the sheriff's office.
The second deputy, a 12-year veteran, was shot in the leg. She was listed in good condition, the sheriff said.
Nygren said the deputies were responding to a call of a domestic dispute from a friend of Peters' family who lives in another state. The sheriff said Peters fled the scene after the shooting, though it remains unclear how he got away.
Sheriff's deputies conducted a door-to-door search in Holiday Hills, a small village about 45 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, to make sure residents in the immediate area were safe. Other area law enforcement agencies, including the Illinois State Police, also are involved in the manhunt.
Nygren said local police didn't have "much of a past history" with Peters. He said Peters is a military veteran, though the sheriff didn't have any details about his military service. And he said that he did not know what Peters did for a living, saying only that he "may be on disability."