Killers of cop dubbed 'G.I. Joe' hunted by feds

Lt. Joe Gliniewicz

Fox Lake, Illinois, businesses and schools were closed Wednesday, as federal agents with the FBI, U.S. Marshals and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined local law enforcement in the search for three suspects in the fatal shooting of a much-loved Illinois police officer, dubbed "G.I. Joe" by friends and colleagues alike.

Lt. Joe Gliniewicz, an officer with 32 years of experience and an expected retirement date of 2016, was found dead by gunshot Tuesday morning, shortly after he radioed to his police station he was chasing three suspects on foot. Police donned heavy gear and took off on foot, car and horseback, some with K-9 dogs, to find the suspects, described as two white men and one black man.

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The manhunt ratcheted Wednesday, and federal agents from three separate agencies joined with local law enforcement to find the suspects.

CNN reported schools in the area initially went in lockdown and many were shut to students on Wednesday. Area businesses have also closed their doors. Meanwhile, law enforcement agents dispatched helicopters with forward-looking infrared, technology that detects heat sources, to help find the suspects.

Gliniewicz was a married father of four.

As WND reported, the shooting of Gliniewicz occurred only a few days after Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth, 47, was shot and killed execution-style in the parking lot of a Texas gas station. The two incidents aren't believed to be linked, but as the Officer Down Memorial Page reported, these police deaths are hardly uncommon. In 2015, 83 have been killed in the line of duty so far, the site reported.

The two police killings bring to three the total of cops killed in the last week.

Don Allen, 27, a Texas policeman with three years on the Abilene force, was discovered dead in his Clyde home on Monday evening. Authorities haven't released details about his killing, but have kicked off a homicide investigation.

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