Warning: the following story includes disturbing content.
Authorities now know what happened on the Eisenhower Expressway last Thursday, leading to a bomb squad response and shutting down the interstate for hours.
It was a firework mortar that went off inside the SUV being driven by 47-year-old Jorge Vaca from west suburban Cicero. A senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the case told NBC Chicago the fireworks rocket was ignited inside Vaca’s vehicle and shot into his chest.
It wasn’t a bomb, and nobody did it to him, they said. The question is, still, why did it happen?
Heavy fireworks are supposed to be blown off in open spaces – for obvious reasons – or into the sky, well away from people.
But that is not what happened inside the SUV being driven westbound on the Eisenhower Expressway.
FBI officials said only the driver was involved in the explosion, which was caused by a commercial-grade firework that ignited inside the driver compartment of the SUV. That’s according to a high-ranking law enforcement official who has direct knowledge of the evidence.
Vaca was killed when the firework shot into his chest as he was driving across the expressway, according to the law enforcement official, who said he is supported by the autopsy report that has yet to be released. The blast blew out windows in Vaca’s SUV, which came to a stop on the highway. No one else was hurt.
“Obviously they’re thinking it was an internal explosion, and thank goodness it wasn’t an external explosion,” said Mike Gannon, retired assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division. “Thank goodness that nobody else hit the car or ram into the car, or just be part of collateral damage for this unfortunate circumstances that occurred.”
Initially, multiple senior law enforcement sources told NBC Chicago they thought Vaca might have been targeted in the explosion because he had recently been arrested by the DEA and agreed to help the agency. Now those sources say a cartel hit was ruled out early, and they say those fireworks were set off by Vaca – with the remaining question: did he do it intentionally?
The Cook County Medical Examiner said the manner of death is still under investigation.
The day the Eisenhower came to a halt for eight hours, NBC Chicago reported federal law enforcement officials thought it was a bizarre accident but officials said they hadn’t ruled out suicide.
On Monday afternoon, a top U.S. official in Chicago who is tracking the investigation told NBC 5 Investigates’ Chuck Goudie they are now leaning toward the suicide possibility – but determining the manner of death remains a main point of the investigation.
