An 18-year-old Aurora man found dead Monday, Jan. 23 inside an Aurora Township home died of an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound”, according to preliminary autopsy findings by the Kane County Coroner’s office.

“We think we know what occurred, but we still have some investigating to do,” Kane County Sheriff’s Office Director of Administration Patrick Gengler said following the autopsy of Jared Peters. “We are aware of the coroner’s preliminary findings, but we’re not even close to being done (with our investigation).”

According to Gengler, deputies were called to a home in the 600 block of South Gladstone Avenue around 1 p.m. on Jan. 23 for a report of someone who had been shot inside the home.

When deputies arrived, they found Jared Peters suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Deputies said a preliminary investigation revealed that Peters showed up at the home of a women he was in a prior dating relationship with and entered through an unlocked door.

The woman, 18, was alone in the home at the time of the shooting and told police she and Peters had a confrontation. At some point during the confrontation, at least two shots were fired, Gengler said.

While Peters’ preliminary autopsy findings indicate a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Gengler said “we need to make sure the evidence matches what is being told to us (by the witness) and bring everything together to make a complete investigation. We’re not really make any sort of determination about what occurred.”

A gun was recovered from inside the home, but Gengler said deputies are unsure who it belongs to, where it came from, or if it was the weapon that killed Peters.

The 18-year-old witness has been interviewed, he said.

“It’s obviously a very traumatic event that she went through,” Gengler said. “The situation is tough all around. We just need to talk to friends and family and find out why he would go over there and do this.”

Gengler said that around the time of the shooting, reports of a suspicious person in the area of the Gladstone address were called in. Detectives determined that the suspicious person was, in fact, Peters.

Peters was the subject of a call police received around 6:55 p.m. on Jan. 21, days before the shooting occurred, according to Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli.

Police were called by an 18-year-old woman who identified herself as Peters’ ex-girlfriend, Ferrelli said. The woman was housesitting a home in the 100 block of S. Glenwood Place and that Peters was allegedly hitting and kicking two of the home’s doors demanding to be let in.

Fearing that he would damage the doors at the property which did not belong to her, the 18-year-old woman let Peters inside, Ferrelli said.

Police reports indicate that after yelling at the woman, she was able to convince Peters to leave the home.

A responding officer arrived and waited in the area and eventually saw Peters again driving past the Glenwood Place home, Ferrelli said.

Peters’ vehicle was stopped and he was told that the woman did not want him back at the home, and did not wish to speak with him.

Peters was then instructed to not go back to the residence nor was he to call the woman or any members of her family. Peters told the officer he was going back to his home.

At about 7:54 p.m. that same day, the woman called police again saying Peters was driving past the residence honking the car’s horn and eventually pulled into the driveway. An Aurora Police Sergeant responded to the scene and located Peters sitting in his car in the area of Garfield Avenue and Glenwood Place where he was taken into custody without incident and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act.

The investigation into Peters’ death remains ongoing.  Kane County Sheriff’s Deputies are being assisted by the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force, Kane County Coroner’s Office, and the Aurora Police Department.

— Autopsy says Aurora man died of self-inflicted gunshot but investigation continues —