An 18-year-old Waukegan man was charged Friday in an stabbing incident that killed one man and injured two, in addition to essentially locking down the area for nearly two hours Thursday afternoon.
Zervont Thomas was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder after the death of 33-year-old Stefan Metel, who lived in Round Lake, the Chicago Tribune reports. He is currently being held on a $5 million bond.
The fatal incident began when police were called to Anthony Auto Group, a car dealership located at 7225 Grand Avenue in the northern suburb, just after 1 p.m. Thursday in response to reports of possible shots being fired in the area, as NBC Chicago reports.
(Scroll down to watch a video report on the Gurnee stabbing.)
When police arrived, they located three wounded men, including two men with bloody wounds who had entered the car dealership. According to police, the men had come onto the property after emerging from a Jeep Grand Cherokee that had veered off of the road after a back-seat passenger -- Thomas -- allegedly stabbed the driver -- Metel -- in the neck, according to ABC 7.
Metel reportedly stumbled toward the dealership for help, followed close behind by Thomas. Metel collapsed at the car dealership and was declared as dead at an area hospital soon after the incident.
"There's a lot of blood over there, like a big blood trail. I mean, I'm in shock right now," one witness told ABC 7 of the incident.
According to NBC Chicago, Metel had been giving a ride to Thomas, whom he originally met at the Lake County Jail, before the two got into an argument. Thomas allegedly proceeded to stab both Metel and the Jeep's front-seat passenger, a 17-year-old boy, who ended up jumping from the vehicle and sustaining minor injuries.
Raul Briseno, a salesman at Gurnee Dodge Chrysler, a dealership located next door to Anthony Auto Group, told the Daily Herald that he witnessed "detectives coming out of an undercover Buick, guns drawn, and they told us to back off" shortly after they heard fire department sirens outside. Their dealership, in addition to area schools and a number of other businesses then went on lockdown while the incident played out. The locked-down businesses re-opened Friday.
View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.