Temp worker charged with murder after shooting at Illinois auto parts facility kills one, injures two

Charles C. McKnight Jr, of Chicago, allegedly shot three workers at a facility he’d been sent to by a temp agency

A 27-year-old temporary worker has been charged with murder in suburban Illinois after allegedly killing one employee and wounding two others at the auto parts facility he’d been assigned to by his agency earlier this month, police said Saturday.

Charles C. McKnight Jr, of Chicago, was confronted by employees Saturday morning at the WeatherTech facility in Bolingbrook after he “allegedly robbed two co-workers, stealing a watch and a wallet at gun point,” Bolingbrook Police Chief Mike Rompa said in a release. “When confronted an argument ensued and the offender pulled out a handgun and shot three co-workers.”

Central Hightower, 37, of Plainfield, was killed, police said. Another 25-year-old man was in critical condition Saturday evening while a 43-year-old man was shot but treated and released before noon.

McKnight, who had been assigned to the job by the employment agency on 9 June, fled the building and was briefly at large before being apprehended at the back of a nearby residence, police said.

Officers recovered a handgun and the stolen property but the shooting “did not appear to be premeditated,” the release continued.

The scene of the crime is a distribution center for WeatherTech products and is part of the company’s headquarters campus about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.

McKnight has been charged with one count of first degree murder, two counts of attempted first degree murder and additional charges are pending, according to the release.