A retired Illinois state trooper who was fatally shot in the head by a woman while at a cigar lounge in Lisle on Jan. 24 in a case that has garnered considerable national and international media attention was a Class of 1986 Proviso East graduate and Maywood native, according to the accounts of numerous relatives, former classmates and friend
Greg Rieves Sr., 51, was fatally shot by Lisa V. McMullan, 51, inside of the Humidor cigar lounge in Lisle, according to Lisle police.
The incident happened last Friday, at around 10:12 p.m., authorities said. McMullan also shot two other state troopers — Lloyd Graham, who was retired, and Kaiton Bullock, a current state trooper — before fatally shooting herself. Both Graham, 55, and Bullock, 48, are expected to recover.
The shooting was reportedly caught on camera. The footage shows that McMullan “without apparent provocation,” according to police, stood up and shot the officers, who were sitting in front of her. The case has made national news, with NBC News quoting Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly, who said that Rieves had been a trooper for more than 20 years and retired roughly a year ago.
“The Illinois State Police family have heavy hearts this morning,” Kelly said. “We are mourning the loss of a retired Trooper, and praying for a full recovery of both our active and retired officers. Please keep all our officers and families in your prayers in the dark and painful moment.”
The inexplicable shooting has sent authorities and community members alike into a frenzy to find a motive. Ron Wilke, the acting police chief for Lisle, said that police so far “have no idea why this happened,” but added that they believe Rieves Sr. and McMullan knew each other. Despite media reports claiming McMullan attended East, multiple alumni have claimed otherwise and she doesn’t seem to appear in Class of 1986 yearbooks.
“I don’t know why,” Rieves’ mother, Hattie Rieves, told the Chicago Tribune over the weekend. “He always wanted to be a state trooper. … He loved his job, he was always happy.”
“He’s someone who was well-loved by all those who worked with him,” Kelly said of Rieves.
Regi Ratliff, Rieves’ classmate at East, joined a chorus of friends and former classmates who offered their condolences on Facebook.
“We met through athletics, of course, on the baseball field,” Ratliff wrote of Rieves. “You were a cool brother and always down to earth.”
Marquis C. Jones Sr., Rieves’ longtime friend, said he was “numb” and “in shock” after learning of the former trooper’s death.
“When we talked the other day we were reminiscing about old times and how we must get together when I come home,” Jones Sr. wrote. “Now that opportunity will never happen. Bro, you will not only be truly missed by everyone who knew you, but most of all you will be missed by me and your entire Maywood & Proviso East Family.”
On Jan. 25, a group of alumni posted on Proviso East Alumni Cookout Group about Rieves’ death, describing the retired trooper as an “all around great guy.” The Proviso East Class of 1986 even scheduled a celebration for Rieves at the Ultimate Cigar Lounge in Villa Park.
According to reporting by the Daily Herald, Rieves “owned a .390 lifetime batting average as a power hitter for rosters in the Chicago North Men’s Senior Baseball League” and had “a way of snapping teammates out of a slump, a philosophy for the game that endeared him to players across the region”
Max Reising, the league’s president, said that Rieves’ number 55 “on my teams will never be worn by anybody else again.”
