Illinois murders of Alberto Rolon and Zoraida Bartolomei, 2 kids not random: police

The fatal shooting of a couple and their two young kids inside their suburban Chicago home was a targeted crime, police revealed Tuesday as neighbors in the quiet community wondered how they didn’t hear any gunshots.

Alberto Rolon, 38, and Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, and their two boys, Diego, 7, and Adriel, 9, along with their three dogs, were all discovered dead from gunshot wounds Sunday night, authorities said.

“Our detectives and crime scene investigators have spent the last 36 hours collecting a tremendous amount of physical evidence,” Romeoville Deputy Police Chief Chris Burne said in a videotaped update. “We were able to determine that this was not a random incident.”

He called the murder investigation the department’s “top priority,” and urged community members to provide any information, including doorbell footage, that might help the probe.

Some neighbors couldn’t believe they didn’t hear the shooting that police believe happened between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

“My niece, her bedroom is right there by the driveway,” a neighbor told ABC 7 Chicago. “And she didn’t hear anything. And she’s got two little dogs and one of them if it hears anything, it will bark and nothing.”

“I never heard anything, if I did, I would have reported it,” neighbor Lynn Philips told Fox 32.

Another neighbor told the station it was “very sinister” that no one heard anything, even though the houses are close together.

The family moved into the neighborhood earlier this year, and while regarded as good neighbors, mostly kept to themselves.

Neighbor Cristina Ibarra said the neighborhood is so peaceful police usually don’t even patrol the area on weekends.

“It’s sad because it’s your neighborhood and it’s usually quiet, and then this happens,” Ibarra told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s very sad.” 

Philips told the newspaper the garage sale she had last year was “probably the most excitement” the neighborhood has had.

Romeoville is about 30 miles southwest of Chicago.

Officers stumbled on the bloody scene Sunday night when they conducted a welfare check on the family.

“We will continue to exhaust every possible resource available and we will not rest until those responsible for this tragedy are brought to justice,” Burne vowed Tuesday.