UPDATE: Police Suspend Search for Kody Walsh

UPDATE as of 4:30: Police have suspended the search for Kody Walsh.  No word on whether they have him in custody or not.  Stay with mystateline.com and WTVO for updates throughout the evening.


(ROCKFORD) -- Police are on scene around Springfield & Safford Roads in Rockford where they say a neighbor says he saw Kody Walsh, the man wanted for first degree murder in Sunday's shooting on I-90.  Berean Baptist Christian School is located right at that intersection and is currently on lockdown.  Students are locked inside classrooms and no one is being allowed inside the building.  School administrators say police aren't telling them anything else except to be on lockdown.

Rockford Public Schools have placed the following schools on lockdown: Auburn High School, McIntosh Elementary & Kennedy Middle School.  A call has been sent out to parents of students at those affected schools.

We'll bring you the latest on this story online here at mystateline.com and on the air on WTVO.

From an earlier report:

Stateline authorities are still on the lookout for a man who they consider armed and dangerous.  Now they're offering a $1,000 reward for a tip leading to his arrest.  Police are looking for Kody Walsh, 22 of Rockford.  They say he's the man who allegedly shot and killed a woman while driving in a car headed toward Wisconsin on I-90. 

 

Illinois State police say the two met at the State Street Station strip club on E. State Street in Rockford.  The victim, Lori Daniels of Janesville, WI, supposedly asked for a ride from Walsh and another man police say Daniels was old neighbors with.  Police say the other man was driving while they assume an altercation took place where they believe Walsh to have shot Daniels in the face, leading to her death.

 

Walsh dropped off the third person in Beloit before taking the car back across the state border.  The body of Daniels was still in the vehicle.  Police in South Beloit and Rockton had received bulletins about Walsh and when police saw his vehicle they pursued him.  The chase crossed into west Rockford where Walsh eventually crashed his Ford Explorer into a fence at Springfield and State streets.  Walsh got out of the vehicle, shot one round at police and ran off on foot.

 

"It was apparent that he does know that neighborhood," said Lt. Kurt Cavanaugh, Illinois State Police Dist. 16.  "He grew up in that neighborhood, he does have family members in the neighborhood."

 

Police did not return fire because they were concerned for the public's safety.  They say the area has plenty of residences.

 

"We do have him placed in Rockford, not in that area, about an hour after the incident occurred, but after that we don't know where he is," said Cavanaugh.

 

State police say Walsh may have shaved his head to conceal his identity. 

 

Illinois State Police are heading up the investigation and are offering a reward for a tip leading to Walsh's arrest.  Call (815) 239-1152 to supply any information you may have.