Joliet West’s Jeremy Fears Jr. reported shot early Saturday

Former Joliet West High School basketball player Jeremy Fears Jr. was shot early Saturday morning while visiting his Joliet hometown.

Fears was the Herald-News 2022-23 Boys Basketball Player of the Year. He currently plays basketball for Michigan State University.

Michigan State University men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo confirmed the shooting in a written statement from the university.

“Jeremy underwent surgery this morning and is resting comfortably,” Izzo said in the statement. “While there is much we still don’t know, my focus is supporting Jeremy on his road to recovery.”

Sekia Fears of Joliet said Saturday morning that her son Jeremy Fears texted her at 4 a.m. saying he’d been shot.

She was out of town with her son Jeremiah Fears for a school visit when she received Jeremy Fears’ text, Sekia Fears said. Jeremiah Fears, who also played basketball for Joliet West, transferred to Sunrise Christian, an elite prep school in Kansas, for his junior season.

So Sekia Fears said she called Jeremy Fears and asked, “Where are you?”

She said Jeremy Fears said he was at a friend’s house. Someone had walked into the house with a mask on and shot Jeremy Fears and a female.

“The paramedics came and they put him in the car,” Sekia Fears said. “And he was very calm, still conscious.”

Sekia Fears said Jeremy Fears had surgery on his left femur bone. The bullet was removed, and Jeremy Fears is expected to recover, she said.

“They said everything went well,” Sekia Fears said.

The Joliet Police Department did not confirm that Fears was shot.

But at 3:44 a.m. Saturday, Joliet police went to a house in the 300 block of St. Jude Avenue in response to a shooting, according to a news release from the Joliet Police Department.

When Joliet police arrived, they found an 18-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his left thigh and a 19-year-old female with a gunshot wound to her pelvis, according to the release.

During a preliminary investigation, Joliet police said both victims were inside the home when a man walked through the front door, began shooting, struck both victims and then ran from the home, according to the release.

Joliet police canvassed the area extensively but did not find the shooting suspect, according to the release.

The Joliet Fire Department took both victims to Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet in stable condition, according to the release.

This is an active investigation, according to the release. The intended target of the shooting and the motive are unknown.

Anyone with information or video footage related to this incident should call the Joliet Police Department Investigations Division at 815-724-3020.

To remain anonymous, call Will County Crime Stoppers at 800-323-6734 or go to crimestoppersofwillcounty.org.

In March, Fears earned McDonald’s All American status and was named the 2022-23 Gatorade Illinois Boys Basketball Player of the Year. He also was ranked the nation’s No. 20 recruit in the class of 2023 by ESPN.com.

Fears previously said playing basketball prepared him for life.

“It [basketball] is a very rough, up-and-down sport,” he said. “It has a lot of good and bad overall, not just in basketball but in life, too. In everything, you have to find a way to prevail. It all goes back to, ‘You can’t stop now.’ You have to fight through adversity.”