Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputies are guarding a man in a Rockford hospital. He’s suspected of killing a 16-year-old Machesney Park's Rebecca Finkenhofer and shooting her grandmother Tuesday night.
Michael Mernack, 36, was shot by Winnebago County sheriff’s deputies after they were called to a Machesney Park home. They say he was armed.
After that encounter, deputies discovered that Finkenhofer and her grandmother had been shot. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene, and the 63-year-old woman is being treated for life-threatening injuries in a Madison, Wis., hospital.
Mernack is in intensive care with life-threatening injuries. He is said to have been in a short relationship with Finkenhofer's mother. The Winnebago/Boone County Integrity Task Force is investigating because of the police use of force.
