Authorities close case on Ill. and Ind. shootings

CHICAGO – Investigators say they've closed the books on shootings last year in rural Illinois and Indiana after DNA evidence showed a man killed in a suburban robbery attempt months later was the shooter.

For months, authorities had considered 48-year-old Gary Amaya a suspect in the Oct. 5, 2010, shootings that left one dead and two injured.

Will County Ill. Sheriff's Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas said Tuesday investigators met last week with the county state's attorney's office and Indiana authorities to close the case.

The gunman was once dubbed the "honeybee shooter" because he allegedly talked to at least one victim about beekeeping.

Initially, authorities had wrongly charged a cop in the shootings. Months later, Amaya was killed with his own gun as he attempted to rob a suburban Chicago tanning salon.