FOX LAKE Brittany Rosentreter, 25, got an ominous warning about two weeks ago when a butcher knife with a threatening note was jammed into the seat of her Kawasaki motorcycle.
That threat was nearly carried out early Wednesday morning when she was shot in the head while sitting in her SUV in the parking lot of her apartment, apparently when she arrived home from work.
Police were called to the Fox Valley Apartments at 37 Nippersink Boulevard, across the street from the Metra North commuter line depot at 3 a.m. by nearby residents "who heard strange noises" in the parking lot, said Fox Lake Police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz.
Police found the wounded victim unconscious on the pavement outside her 1997 Ford Expedition.
"Robbery was not a motive," he said noting all Rosentreter's personal items were left intact.
She was flown by helicopter to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where a spokesman said no information will be released about her medical condition. Police said she was in critical condition late Wednesday.
Fox Lake Police Chief Mike Behan said the shooting "is not random and is not gang-related. I won't eliminate a bad boyfriend or girlfriend relationship."
The shooting is being investigated by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force which referred all press inquiries to Fox Lake police. Behan welcomed the investigative assistance from the Task Force. "With a homicide or shooting of this caliber it's good to have them here working parallel with us," he said.
Police at the crime scene Wednesday were not allowing anyone into the apartment complex. The SUV had been towed to the Fox Lake police station where it was being examined by Task Force personnel.
Rosentreter is employed as a waitress and bartender at AJ's Horsin' Around at 114 E. Washington St., Round Lake Park.
It was open jam Wednesday night at AJ's and a hot five-piece blues band, King Robinson and the Wrecking Crew, was playing but the bar wasn't crowded. "It's an off night," said a patron.
Another patron, who asked that her name not be used, said Brittany was well-liked. The talk in the bar was that jealousy was a likely motive in the shooting. Brittany was supposed to go on vacation to Florida Wednesday, she said. "I think they'll have someone in custody in a day or two," she said.
Rosentreter's roommate and some of her friends were at the end of the bar, talking about Britanny. They said they didn't want to talk with press.
Chad Rogers, 21, of Round Lake Park, was just going in to see Brittany's friends.
"It's a shame, just a shame," he said. "I didn't know her that well but I know some of her friends. She was very sweet. Everybody loved her.
"A lot of people like her and she is very friendly," said her friend and co-worker Jessica Tarello. "We hang out and work together."
Donna Hayden of Fox Lake, who knows the victim because they are in the same pool league in various taverns in the county, said Rosentreter "has been having trouble with someone."
She is "very competitive, very outgoing and very outspoken. There are no holds barred."
Hayden said Rosentreter is among the top pool players in the county league.
"She's maybe a little rough on the edges, but she is a sweet girl," Hayden said. "I've said my prayer and hope she recovers."
Hayden was at the shooting scene Wednesday morning because she was concerned about her daughter and son-in-law who live in the same apartment complex. They were not home at the time of the shooting.
Her son-in-law, Mike Goebel, 31, lives on the third floor of the three-story, 12-unit apartment. Rosentreter lives on the first floor with two female roommates, he said. Goebel said he "ran into" Rosentreter recently in the complex's laundry room and he asked her about the death threat.
"She shrugged. She blew it off and said it was not a big thing," Goebel said. She told him that one of her roommates was having problems with an ex-boyfriend.
He said "it scared the crap out of me" when he came home at 5:30 a.m. to his apartment to see police cars and police tape around the crime scene.
"Right away I thought it was something that involved her," he said. "It's messed up, man!"
Goebel said that he has heard "screaming and yelling" in the parking lot on previous occasions, "but that can happen anywhere."
He said Rosentreter "is full of life and energy" and is planning to move from the apartment in November when her lease is up.
The manager of the Fox Valley Apartments, who declined to give her name, said she had seen Brittany Tuesday before she went to work and that she seemed in good spirits. She said she found the note and knife on Brittany's motorcycle but that she didn't read the note.
The back of the apartment complex is a wooded hillside. The apartments are about two blocks south of Nippersink Lake.
