Police: Son killed mother in Palatine apartment before he was killed by officer he rammed
A Palatine man fatally shot by police early Sunday after driving his car into an officer and civilian killed his mother in a downtown apartment before the deadly confrontation, authorities said Monday.
Leslie Vaughan, 51, died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Police said the officer who killed him is a four-year veteran who was injured when hit by Vaughan's car.
Officers later discovered Vaughan's mother, Polly Vaughan, dead in her son's apartment. The 74-year-old Peoria, Arizona, woman died as a result of multiple stab wounds, police said.
Officers were called to the apartments on Brockway Street shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday when Leslie Vaughan called 911 and told a dispatcher that a murder had occurred and he was involved.
While two responding officers were outside the apartments talking with a resident, police said, Vaughan was sitting inside his vehicle watching them. The car then accelerated through the parking lot, swerved onto the grass and hit one officer and the resident before crashing into a Brockway Street apartment building. The second officer, a 13-year veteran, narrowly evaded the car, police said.
The officer who was struck opened fire on Vaughan and killed him. That officer and the civilian were taken to a hospital for treatment and later released, according to police.
“The officer is physically fine,” Palatine Police Chief Alan Stoeckel said. “He is off for a few days while we go through the (investigation) process.” The officer who was not hit is doing well, the chief said.
According to records, Polly Vaughan moved to Arizona about two years ago but until then lived in Northwest suburbs.
Michael Winter, one of her former neighbors in a Palatine townhouse complex, said he and his wife had hoped to meet up with her while she was in town visiting this month. He said he last spoke to her about four weeks ago.
Before she moved out of state, Winter and his wife, Helen, socialized regularly with her, going out for dinner or just chatting while out on their neighboring decks.
“We spoke almost nightly across the deck,” Winter said. “She loved flowers. She was just a very meticulous woman. She loved to go out to eat. She loved to travel. She was just a typical retired woman that was enjoying her life.”
Winter believed Vaughan had been in Palatine for about a month to assist her son. He remembered Vaughan having her son over for dinner at her townhouse almost every Sunday.
In a 2017 bankruptcy filing, Leslie Vaughan listed himself as a sales associate at an upscale men's clothing store in Oak Brook.
While Palatine police investigators continue to investigate the killing of Polly Vaughan and the attempted murder of the officers and the resident, the Cook County Major Case Assistance Team will conduct an inquiry into the officer-involved shooting. Stoeckel said that's standard procedure.
“We feel for both the victims involved in this,” Stoeckel said.