On Thursday, July 31, 2025, members of the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Mount Prospect, IL, Police Department, in locating and arresting Bashkim Rockwell, 38, of 206 8th Avenue, Sterling, IL. Rockwell was taken into custody without incident in Sterling, following an investigation into a firearm discharge that occurred on Friday, July 25, in Mount Prospect.
The Mount Prospect Police Department charged Rockwell with the following offenses:
• one felony count of Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm
• two felony counts of Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding Police
• one misdemeanor count of Fleeing and Eluding Police
• one misdemeanor count of Speeding 35 MPH or More Over the Limit.
The charges stem from an incident at approximately 12:58 a.m., on July 25, when Mount Prospect officers responded to a report of shots fired at the McDonald’s located at 13 W. Rand Road. A dark-colored sedan reportedly pulled alongside a vehicle containing four juveniles in the drive-through lane. The sedan’s driver pointed a handgun out the window, and the juveniles reported hearing what they believed was a gunshot. A bullet strike was later confirmed on the juvenile’s vehicle.
Following the shooting, a pursuit of the suspect vehicle was initiated but later terminated by Mount Prospect Police, due to excessive speed and public safety concerns. Through further investigation, Rockwell was identified as the offender.
With assistance from Sheriff John F. Booker and Deputies from the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office, Rockwell was located and apprehended in Sterling, on Thursday, July 31. He appeared at a detention hearing on Saturday, August 2, where he was ordered held, pending his next court appearance, scheduled for Friday, August 29, at the 3rd District Court of Cook County in Rolling Meadows, IL.
Quote from Sheriff John F. Booker: “We take cooperation between Law Enforcement agencies seriously–especially when it involves someone discharging a firearm near juveniles. I am proud of our Deputies for working quickly and professionally to bring Mr. Rockwell into custody. When someone commits a violent act in another community and tries to hide in ours, they’ll find out fast that Whiteside County is not the place to run.”
As always, the public is reminded that criminal charges are not evidence of guilt, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.