Halloween shooting: police source says fugitive nabbed in basement wanted for post-party gun attack

A fugitive captured in the basement bedroom of a Joliet home Friday was charged with shooting and wounding a man as he fled a mass shooting at an East Jackson Street Halloween party, a police source said.

David Grijalva, 20, was booked into the Will County jail on charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Grijalva’s bond was set at $3 million.

Grijalva was the second man arrested in connection with gun violence that left two guests of the East Jackson Street Halloween party dead and nine others hospitalized with either gunshot wounds or injuries suffered when they fell or were trampled by fleeing partygoers, police said.

Joskar Ramos, 18, was jailed Nov. 5 on charges of possession of a firearm without an owner’s identification card, obstructing justice and possession of ammunition without a FOID card.

Ramos had an outstanding warrant related to an unlawful use of a weapon charge from when he was 17, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, and detectives obtained a search warrant for his home after identifying him as the “prime suspect” in the mass shooting through “multiple interviews, videos, and tips.”

Deputies spotted Ramos in a second-story window of his Gael Drive home but he refused to leave the residence, police said.

The deputies forced entry, arrested Ramos and recovered a Glock from below a window of the home, according to police.

Ramos’ bond was set at $1 million. While police identified him as their prime suspect in the Halloween party mass shooting, he has yet to be charged with shooting anyone.

Grijalva’s attoerney, Rajeev Bajaj, pointed to the lack of those charges and called the case against Grijalva “very convenient.”

“They said they (Ramos) was the one,” Bajaj said. “Now look at it. His charges, I believe they’re just weapons charges. There’s no attempted murder.”

The police source described Ramos and Grijalva as accomplices. Police have previously said the shooting appears gang-related and that the gunmen were apparently targeting at least one or two people at the party.

In a statement released Friday, the sheriff’s office identied Grijalva as a member of the Vice Lords street gang.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Unit and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force captured Grijalva in the basement bedroom of a Woods Street residence, police said.

The man Grijalva was charged with shooting Halloween night had fled the party and was some distance away from the home at 1018 E. Jackson St. where it was held, the police source said.

“It is related but it is a different shooting scene,” the source said.

“He was shot when he was leaving the party,” the source said.

Carole Cheney, spokeswoman for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on Grimalja’s case.

Bajaj said the police have the wrong man.

“My client didn’t shoot anyone that day,” he said. “They should never have charged my client.”

Nearly 200 attended the party, according to police, with guests ranging in age from their teens to mid-20s, and coming from as far away as Bridgeview and Chicago.

The party hosts had initially invited friends through a social media site, police said. The invitation then spread over social media and attracted more guests, many of whom had no association with the hosts.

The two guests shot to death at the party, 22-year-olds Holly Mathews and Jonathan Ceballos, both lived in Joliet.

Kathy Hoffmeyer, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, previously said detectives were “positive” that Mathews, Ceballos and the host of the party had no involvement with the rival gangs suspected of gunplay Halloween night.

Mathews mother, Sharyl Mathews, said she was “very, very happy” to hear news of the second arrest.

“I want to look these guys in the eyes directly, Sharyl Mathews said, adding that she plans to attend the court dates for Ramos and Grimalja.

“It’s changed my life forever,” Sharyl Mathews said of her daughter’s death. “There’s times we cry, in the morning and at night.”