Man fired a gun randomly in his Waukegan home after claiming the devil was after him

A 39-year-old man is accused of firing a gun multiple times in his Waukegan home after prosecutors said he believed the devil and other people were out to get him.

Jesus Hernandez-Garcia, 39, of Waukegan, was indicted Wednesday by a Lake County grand jury on a charge of reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony.

Waukegan police responded to a 911 call from Hernandez-Garcia around 8:30 a.m. on August 27th.

Lake County Assistant Prosecutor Mary Vukovich said Hernandez-Garcia told dispatchers that he was seeing things and that some entities were holding someone hostage and that he was chasing people.

Hernandez-Garcia also told the newsroom that he had stopped drinking days earlier and was suffering from hallucinations and seizures.

Hernandez-Garcia was outside when he made the call and provided police with his location.

Vukovich said officers located Hernandez-Garcia a few blocks from his home and went to the home to find out what happened.

They spoke with Hernandez-Garcia’s wife, who had also called 911 to report that her husband had a gun.

The woman said she heard two gunshots around 7:50 a.m. that morning, Vukovich said. She went into the bedroom and found Hernandez-Garcia with a gun in her hand.

Hernandez-Garcia told her someone was in the bathroom and he tried to shoot them, but they weren’t dead, Vukovich said. The woman saw two shots fired in the door.

Vukovich said Hernandez-Garcia began making delusional insinuations about his wife, including that the devil was out to get him and that people were trying to take him and her away.

The woman took the gun away from Hernandez-Garcia and hid it from him. He ran out of the house and called 911.

Vukovich said Hernandez-Garcia admitted to firing the gun in the house and said he was trying to scare away the creatures in the house.

Hernandez-Garcia was taken to the hospital and officers heard him telling hospital staff that the devil and men were out to get him, Vukovich said.

The officers seized the firearm in the apartment and confiscated the gun owner’s ID card.

Hernandez-Garcia’s wife has since filed a protective order and was granted an order of protection. She said she feared for her safety and that Hernandez-Garcia might harm her.

An attorney for Hernandez-Garcia said his client poses no threat to the community. He argued that Hernandez-Garcia’s actions were the result of hallucinations due to alcohol detoxification.

Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak granted a motion filed by prosecutors to hold Hernandez-Garcia in the Lake County Jail pending trial.

The judge said it would likely be in the best interest of Hernandez-Garcia, his wife and the public to keep him in custody and transferred to a treatment facility.

Hernandez-Garcia is scheduled to appear at an arraignment hearing Tuesday morning.