Michael C. Gul, a 29-year-old White/Caucasian male, was found dead late on June 14, 2025, inside a multi-story home in the 500 block of West Mason Street in Polo, Illinois. He had been shot during a violent incident that began as a hostage situation late that Saturday night. Authorities were called just before midnight, and by the time law enforcement reached the residence, multiple people who had been held at gunpoint had managed to escape to safety.
Investigators identified the gunman as 19-year-old Joshua M. Conway of rural Polo. According to officials, Conway shot Gul inside the home and then barricaded himself on an upper floor. When officers made entry, they discovered both men on the third floor with fatal gunshot wounds.
Conway’s death was believed to be self-inflicted, and the scene was processed through the night and into the following day by crime scene investigators.
In the days after the shooting, the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office executed an additional search warrant at a separate residence associated with Conway as detectives traced his movements and sought to understand motive and relationships among those in the house. Autopsies for both Gul and Conway were conducted on June 16 at the Ogle County Coroner’s Office, with results pending at the time officials last briefed the media. Authorities characterized the case as a murder followed by the suspect’s suicide, and no other suspects were named.
Because the alleged shooter was found deceased, there were no arrests. Law enforcement emphasized that the surviving hostages had escaped and were safe, and that the investigation continued to focus on establishing the full timeline, circumstances inside the residence, and any prior connections between Conway and the home where the crime occurred.
