Gunman felt cheated over truck toilet invention

CHICAGO – The gunman who went on a deadly shooting spree in a downtown high-rise law office went to the building in search of an attorney because he felt cheated over an invention, authorities said Saturday.

Joe Jackson, 59, made at least one other attempt Friday to enter the offices of the intellectual property law firm Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer, but was turned away because he didn’t have an appointment, said Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline.

The next time he returned, Jackson had a revolver, knife and hammer hidden in a manila envelope, Cline said. He forced a security guard at gunpoint to take him up to the 38th floor, where shooting victim Michael McKenna, 58, rented office space. Jackson carried McKenna’s business card in his pocket, Cline said.

Then Jackson chained the doors behind him, grabbed a hostage and started shooting, as he ranted to witnesses that he had been deceived over his invention, a toilet for a truck, Cline said.

“We know he went there for Mr. McKenna, then he continued to shoot other people,” Cline said.

He was holding a hostage at gunpoint when two SWAT officers shot him in the face and chest from about 45 yards away, Cline said. There were no negotiations and the hostage was unharmed, police said.

“He had already shot four people. He had reloaded his gun,” Cline said Saturday.

Jackson died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office, which also identified the other victims Saturday as attorney Allen J. Hoover, 65, of Wilmette, and Paul Goodson, 78, of Chicago, a retired schoolteacher.

Colleagues said Hoover was a partner at the firm and McKenna was a patent attorney who rented space from the firm and also had offices in suburban Northbrook and in Hawaii. They said Goodson worked part time at the firm, sorting mail and making deliveries.

A fourth victim, Ruth Zak Leib, 57, of Oak Park, was identified by police as McKenna’s longtime paralegal. She was treated at a hospital and released Friday for a gunshot wound to the foot, a hospital spokeswoman said.