Wife seeks to divorce man charged with Lockport area attempted murder

A Cook County correctional sergeant is seeking to end her 14-year marriage with a man charged with the attempted murder and hate crime of a neighbor who was wounded in a shooting.

On Tuesday, Wendy Shadbar, 50, petitioned for the dissolution of her marriage with John “Pete” Shadbar, 70. Her petition cited “irreconcilable differences” causing an “irretrievable breakdown” of their marriage.

John Shadbar is charged with numerous felonies – including attempted murder – following the investigation of a shooting May 7 in the 16500 block of West 144th Place in unincorporated Lockport Heights.

John Shadbar allegedly shot his 45-year-old neighbor, according to a petition filed by Will County prosecutors to deny jail release. Shadbar, who is white, allegedly harassed the neighbor, who is white, and her son, who is Black, with racial epithets, prosecutors said.

A Will County judge granted a protective order against him by Wendy Shadbar. Her petition alleged that after her husband fired off his gun May 7, he went inside their home and began “throwing items in the home.”

She alleged she had to “throw myself on the floor to avoid being hit.”

“I called the police. John was in a stand-off with police before being arrested. I fear for my safety if John were to return home,” Wendy Shadbar’s petition alleged.

Wendy Shadbar is under an internal investigation by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, but a spokesperson for the office declined to explain the basis for the investigation or why she was de-deputized.

She is not under investigation by the Will County Sheriff’s Office, according to public information officer Kathy Hoffmeyer.

Wendy Shadbar had refused to consent to a police search of her house during the investigation of the May 7 shooting that left a woman seriously wounded, prosecutors said.

After obtaining a search warrant, police found multiple firearms inside the house, including an “AK-47 style rifle,” but Wendy Shadbar said she did not own a rifle and did not know her husband to own a rifle, prosecutors said.

Wendy Shadbar told police her service weapon was a Glock firearm but police did not recover a Glock within the home or any of the vehicles they searched, prosecutors said.

John Shadbar is due back in court on May 23 for a preliminary hearing. A grand jury may return an indictment on that day.