“Unimaginable” triple murder shakes Mahomet community | News

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MAHOMET — Wednesday night’s shooting that left three people dead in a small Mahomet neighborhood was, in a word, “unimaginable” for the community.

This is how neighbor Scott Kreitzer described the triple murder of Janis Mason (61), Sara Mason (26) and Caleb Mason (23).

“It’s just a terrible thing,” he said. “It just reminds me how anything can happen.”

When officers responded at 9:41 p.m. that evening, Kreitzer neither heard gunshots nor noticed police lights from his home several doors away.

He and his wife knew the Masons as longtime roommates on the cul-de-sacs of Riverside Court and Riverside Drive. Their dogs used to play together.

Bryson Keeble said he knew Caleb from kindergarten through high school. He remembered playing together during recess.

When a friend told him what happened during their morning run Thursday, Keeble didn’t know what else to do but go to the house, hoping to learn more and reminisce about growing up with his friend .

He found it still surrounded by police tape and several reporters were on the scene.

“I was completely confused by what happened. It didn’t make sense,” Keeble said. “Of course I was also very injured.”

Of course, as young adults, Keeble and Caleb didn’t spend as much time together as they did in school, but they met for coffee about ten weeks before filming.

Keeble said they talked “about everything,” from Caleb’s “unexpected” interest in squid to his job at Texas Roadhouse.

“He said he enjoyed spending time with his family and he honestly just seemed happy,” Keeble said.

“He was always a very creative person, and I learned that throughout my childhood. He also encouraged me and others to make the best of themselves. He has had an extremely valuable influence on my life and I am sure he has had an impact on the lives of many other people too.”

Keeble wasn’t the only one who felt he had to see the scene at the corner of Riverside Court and Riverside Drive with his own eyes.

Residents on the streets said they had never seen so much traffic, with vehicles driving through the cul-de-sacs and turning around every few minutes.

Mahomet police announced Thursday morning that they responded to the shooting Wednesday night.

Officers found all three victims with life-threatening wounds. Sara Mason was pronounced dead at the scene. Janis Mason and Caleb Mason were taken to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana and pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m

Initial reports said the shooter had been “identified and located.”

It was the police department in Berwyn, a Chicago suburb about 120 miles from Mahomet, that announced that the suspect had been killed in a shootout with police.

The Cook County coroner’s office later released his identity: 24-year-old John R. Lyons of Westchester, a Chicago suburb west of Berwyn.

Mahomet Police Chief Mike Metzler said Lyons knew one of the victims.

“According to the information we have, one of the victims was targeted,” Metzler said Thursday afternoon. “This was not a random incident.”

According to Champaign County court records, Lyons filed a lawsuit in June against Caleb Mason seeking damages ranging from $15,000 to $50,000.

Mahomet police responded to a report of the shooting at 9:41 p.m. Wednesday. Berwyn police responded to a report of a man with a gun, later identified as Lyon, at 11:38 p.m

According to the Berwyn Police Department, officers located Lyons, but he fled on foot and escaped.

He forced his way into a residence where he fatally shot two dogs before officers observed him fleeing into a nearby yard.

Lyons ignored officers’ orders to stop and began shooting at them. The officers returned fire and killed him.

Berwyn police turned the incident over to Illinois State Police, who began coordinating the investigation into Berwyn and Mahomet.

The investigation was still ongoing Thursday evening when Metzler provided an update confirming that the Berwyn officer-involved shooting and the Mahomet shooting deaths were directly related.

“The Mahomet Police Department extends our condolences to Mason’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of their loved ones,” Metzler said.

Mahomet Village Administrator Patrick Brown echoed those sentiments.

“Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Janis, Sara and Caleb Mason as they mourn this senseless and tragic murder,” Brown said. “We are fortunate to have an outstanding police and law enforcement partners who continue to work tirelessly on this case and whose combined efforts helped prevent another tragedy last night.”