CHESTER, IL. – The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a pursuit that included gun fire occurred Friday.
According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, on February 6th, 2026 at approximately 3:50 p.m., Marissa Police Department was in pursuit of a suspect vehicle that entered Randolph County. During the pursuit four vehicles were struck with gun fire on County Road 18, in rural Sparta. All four vehicles were occupied at the time and not involved in the police incident. None of the occupants were harmed.
The pursuit then continued onto southbound State Route 4 and into Sparta, eventually ending in a farm field adjacent to South Burns Avenue.
The driver was eventually taken into custody without incident.
It was later discovered that a fifth vehicle had been struck with gun fire in Lenzburg where the occupants were also unharmed.
Due to the incident occurring in multiple agency jurisdictions, the Illinois State Police have become the lead investigating agency for the entire incident.
Any further inquiries into this incident should be directed to Illinois State Police.