Multiple people reported shot in northern Illinois in a ‘mass casualty incident,’ authorities say

DIXON, Ill. — Multiple people were shot in northern Illinois on Wednesday, authorities said, calling it a “mass casualty incident.”

Ambulances and two medical helicopters went to the Lost Lake community near Dixon, where there was also a massive police presence, according to a message on the Winnebago Boone & Ogle County Fire/EMS Incidents Facebook page.

A spokesperson for Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon said three people were taken to the hospital’s emergency department.

A person answering the phone at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. The department’s website said a news conference would be held at 3:30 p.m

Aerial photos from local media Wednesday afternoon showed law enforcement and personal vehicles parked on the side of dirt roads nearby and officials occasionally congregating in small groups, but there was little ongoing activity. Yellow police tape blocked at least one driveway and an Ogle County sheriff’s mobile command center was parked at the end of the driveway.

The Lost Lake homeowners association describes the area as a “country-style community” with about 700 owners in an unincorporated area close to the cities of Dixon, Franklin Grove and Oregon, about 100 miles west of Chicago.