BLOOMINGDALE, Illinois — Bloomingdale and DuPage County authorities were seeking answers Thursday in the mysterious shooting death of a former University of Maine basketball player early this week.
Police received a 911 call in the 200 block of Tamarack Lane in Bloomingdale at 9:37 p.m. Monday and found Nate J. Fox shot, according to a police news release. Fox, 37, was taken to Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights, where he later was pronounced dead.
On Thursday, Bloomingdale Police Chief Frank Giammarese said investigators learned Fox was fatally shot while he was on his way home from work. Police said Fox was driving a maroon 2013 Jaguar XJ, with Illinois license plate R554813, before he was shot.
Police are still trying to find out “what transpired” and what was the motive for the shooting, Giammarese said.
Authorities released a photo of a similar “unique” looking car, because they “were trying to find out if anything transpired … we thought if someone saw something we want them to call,” Giammarese said.
He declined to say if the Jaguar was damaged, if Fox was robbed, or if shell casings were found.
“We did find evidence at the scene, which is being evaluated,” Giammarese said.
Fox, whose given name was Nathaniel, was a graduate of Plainfield High School, according to an obituary posted on the Carlson Holmquist-Sayles Funeral Home website.
Fox was a basketball and football standout at Plainville and received college scholarship offers in both sports.
The 6-foot-9 Fox accepted a basketball scholarship to Boston College but later transferred to the University of Maine. Fox graduated from UMaine in 2000. He was a two-time All-America East selection and a NABC All-District I selection his senior season at Maine under coach John Giannini.
Fox averaged 17.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as he led the Black Bears to a 43-16 record in his two seasons in Orono. He finished 19th on UMaine’s career scoring list with 1,052 points.
After college, he played professional basketball in Estonia. Fox averaged 14.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game while playing for BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn.
In 2009, it was announce that he had signed a contract with the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig of the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany.
A female lived with Fox at the address where he and the vehicle were found, the police chief said.
“We’re not sure if this was a random act or if something led to this or if he was targeted,” said Giammarese, adding he does not feel the public is in any danger. “We’re trying to find the person or persons who did this.”
“I do not think people are randomly out there shooting people,” Giammarese said.
The chief said he has met with Fox’s loved ones, who were going through a “horrible”‘ and “heart-wrenching” time after losing him, especially during the holidays.
Police have never been called to the home for any prior incidents, and Giammarese said no one is in custody, though a “ton of people” have been interviewed.
“Everyone right now is a person of interest,” Giammarese said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Bloomingdale police at 630-529-9868.
Tribune writer Juan Perez Jr. and Bangor Daily News writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC