IL - Roberto Rolon, Zoraida Bartolomei and their two children, murdered, Romeoville, 17 Sept 2023

  • #21
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  • #22

Two adults and two children were found murdered at a home in suburban Romeoville , over the weekend, with police now saying that they do not believe that the attack was a random act.

According to an update published by police on Tuesday, authorities determined that the shootings were "not a random act," and that there was no ongoing threat to the public that would have required a "shelter-in-place" order.

Authorities have spent the last 36 hours collecting physical evidence at the scene, and police say they have obtained surveillance footage from numerous sources that they say is aiding them in the investigation.

Romeoville Police Deputy Chief Chris Burne says that the Will County Major Crimes Task Force is helping to review that evidence, and that the department is seeking out more footage and eyewitness testimony to help them piece together what took place.
 
  • #23
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Update on the 500 Block of Concord Avenue Incident​

Update as of September 19, 2023 at 1:30 PM.
 
  • #24

9/19/23

Officers responding to a well-being check at 8:43 p.m. Sunday discovered the bodies.

Investigators believe the family members died between 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday, police said. Police confirmed to Patch that the suspect was not one of the victims.

Burne said the Will County Major Crimes Task Force has been brought in to assist investigators.

"The members of the community have been very helpful in providing us with information and evidence. We continue to seek their assistance in providing anything, including ring-doorbell footage, they may think is helpful to this investigation," Burne said.
 
  • #25
I hope justice is swift for this family.
 
  • #26
You just got me thinking. I thought the same, that the kids were killed because they could have identified the killer. But one thing now gives me pause. If the murders happened between 9pm and 5am, presumably the kids would have been asleep, as it was a school night (I read in an article the name of the school they attended).

I think there’s a reasonable chance that this person came to kill them all.

ETA: then again, they could have woken up.
I screwed this up. It wasn’t a school night. I was under the impression this happened Sunday night.
 
  • #27
Though one, and quite possibly, both of the victims either identify as Puerto Ricans (fairly common in Chicago), or are Puerto Rican descent, English appears to have been the primary- and perhaps only, language used by the couple. Likewise, English is used by others to communicate with them.

This could indicate long residence, or birth on the mainland and lessen the possibilities of a motive stemming from their home country.

- Puerto Rico is, of course, part of the US. But... a good number of the Puerto Ricans I know refer to the island as a ""country" or have "Soy Orgulloso de ambos" stickers with US and Puerto Rican flags

This is just awful. The children look like a family I know. Its chilling.
 
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  • #29
DBM

I was wondering about the circumstances under which the family moved from PR to the mainland U.S.—could one of the adults have had the kids with a previous partner who was angered by the custodial parent moving so far away with the kids? Could one of the adults’ current or previous jobs have put them at risk for retaliation from an angry former client?
 
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  • #30
When the police say there is no danger to the public, it usually means that they have a very good idea who did it but haven't collected enough evidence to make an arrest. I, too hope it is solved quickly, and nobody else is harmed.
 
  • #31
I hope they know the time of the shooting, but just aren't saying, for some reason--as others have alluded to, the shooting (7 shots minimum, presumably in fairly quick-succession) took place in the quiet hours of the night. and looking at the neighborhood, those houses are pretty well stacked on top of one another...

unless they were in the basement, or it all happened smack in the center of the house, seems like it would be very surprising for none of the neighbors to have heard something. looks like it had been good sleeping weather too, so I'm sure some neighbors probably had windows open.
 
  • #32
I hope they know the time of the shooting, but just aren't saying, for some reason--as others have alluded to, the shooting (7 shots minimum, presumably in fairly quick-succession) took place in the quiet hours of the night. and looking at the neighborhood, those houses are pretty well stacked on top of one another...

unless they were in the basement, or it all happened smack in the center of the house, seems like it would be very surprising for none of the neighbors to have heard something. looks like it had been good sleeping weather too, so I'm sure some neighbors probably had windows open.
They supposedly have quite a bit of surveillance footage, so if they haven’t figured out the time, I’m sure they will. This person had to arrive via car, so I’d be shocked if they didn’t have a vehicle of interest soon.

As for neighbors not hearing gunshots, it wouldn’t be the first time. I can think of cases in neighborhoods with similar setups, where the killer(s) used high power rifles, and still no one heard a thing.
 
  • #33
A Go Fund Me has been opened by the family to provide for funeral service costs. The cousin of Zoraida Bartolomei posted a tweet in Spanish with the link. zoraida-bartolomei-and-family
 
  • #34
One police report was filed when the family lived at their last residence...

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  • #35
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The children's names were not released by police but a statement from Valley View Community Unit School District 365 identified them as students at Robert C. Hill Elementary School.
It is with deep sadness that we inform you about a recent loss to our VVSD school community. Today, on September 18th, 2023, we were informed that two of our R.C. Hill Elementary School students tragically lost their lives in a senseless act of gun violence at their residence in Romeoville. The Romeoville Police Department (RPD) official updatescan be found online. We have initiated the VVSD Crisis Response Plan to support the R.C. Hill School Community
 
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  • #36
I had missed this previously, and it’s encouraging:

Officials, on Tuesday, announced that based on a "tremendous amount of physical evidence" collected at the scene, detectives have determined the attack was targeted, and "not a random incident."

 
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  • #38
One police report was filed when the family lived at their last residence...

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Article says that when they lived at their former residence, the family reported a threat received on Facebook in 2022.
 
  • #39
I had missed this previously, and it’s encouraging:

Officials, on Tuesday, announced that based on a "tremendous amount of physical evidence" collected at the scene, detectives have determined the attack was targeted, and "not a random incident."

What kind of evidence would lead LE to determine the attack was targeted and not random, I wonder. No forced entry? Information on computers or cell phones? Nothing taken? Just wondering what kind of evidence leads to that determination.
 
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  • #40
This is so sad. I hate it when LE says no threat to the public when it isn’t murder suicide. I would be scared and absolutely vigilant if I lived near there

I am interested in the prior relationships of both adults killed. Articles refer to the adults as "partners", meaning "not married". I wonder how long they have been together, do both children have the same parents? No mention of older siblings, even a half sibling?

It seems to me that LEO have an idea of the perpetrator, as they don't seem concerned about this happening again.
 

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