It was a Friday evening and reported to my sports assignment in DuPage County near Joliet, Ill. After collecting statistical information from the game at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, interviewed the coach and snagged an interview from the player of the game.
Upon leaving the school, had the daunting task of making the return trip to the Waukegan newsroom in the midst of Chicago traffic just days prior to the Christmas holiday. Promptly completed a game recap after arriving at the newsroom with a half hour remaining until final deadline.
As I double-checked my work, clarified details and reviewed my agenda for the following week received a news tip from a graphic designer putting the final pieces together of the newspaper before sending it to press.
"Are you a news reporter?" the designer asked me.
"Sunday through Thursday, but Fridays I usually am on sports," I replied.
"There was a homicide in Buffalo Grove today," the designer added.
Jumped up from my desk and immediately ran to the fax machine where I found the press release from the Buffalo Grove Police Department time stamped two hours earlier.
It was then I made the self-initiated decision to make a late night phone call the Lake County Coroner's home to receive any information regarding the homicide.
The coroner referred me to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office stating the crime was committed just barely over the Lake-Cook County border.
With 15 minutes to gather as much data as I could, made a 10:45pm phone call to Cook County where I received final confirmation - it was a double homicide.
Responded and filed a story in ten minutes. And there it was, managed to successfully transition from covering a high school sporting event in DuPage County to placing phone calls with two other jurisdictions regarding a double homicide.
Continuing coverage
Made the decision to continue following the developments of the double homicide until a suspect was located, arrested and charged with the crime.
And within a week of filing the initial story, Buffalo Grove Police had a man in custody.
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