Palatine Shooting Leaves Neighbors Stunned

The sound of the first gunshot Sunday was loud enough to startle Amy Waldmann.

"The first one was huge and I thought 'What?'" Waldmann said. "It was so loud, I was uncomfortable with it. I thought it was a sonic boom."

What followed were at least two more bangs.

But Waldmann and her family assumed it must have been fireworks. About 26 minutes later, at about 9 p.m., Palatine police officers arrived at their front door.

Down the street at 1540 E. Reynolds Drive, their long-time neighbor, 49-year-old Edward Kuemper lay dead near his front door. Nearby was the body of a 21-year-old man who the Daily Herald has identified as Arlington Heights resident Bradley Morrison.

Police believe Kuemper shot Morrison before taking his own life. After the police arrived, Waldmann's daughter, 21-year-old Jane Waldmann, went outside to see what had happened.

"It just looked like everything happened right in the front yard," Jane Waldmann said. Her father, Bob Waldmann, 50, said both bodies were outside the home.

The Waldmanns, who live at 1521 E. Reynolds Drive said they were shocked by the shooting.

"He [Edward Kuemper] was just kind of a regular guy," Amy Waldmann said. "Very much into his family."

"He was hilarious," said Jane Waldmann. "I had a beer with him about a week and a half ago."

Amy Waldmann said she believed that Morrison had had a relationship with Kuemper's daughter, who they thought was about 16 years old.

The Waldmanns said they had known the Kuempers for about 14 years.

"It's the classic, didn't see it coming," Bob Waldmann said. "Not this guy."

The Waldmanns knew that Kuemper had guns because he was an avid deer hunter, a hobby he took pride in.

"Ed was a hunter, he was a hunting man," Bob Waldmann said. "You knew he hunted, but he was not the kind of a guy . . . you never saw him with a gun."