RANTOUL, Ill. (WCIA) – An officer-involved shooting in Rantoul left a suspect dead, a man in handcuffs and two officers on administrative leave Wednesday. Now, a multi-jurisdictional team led by Illinois State Police is investigating.
This is the second officer-involved shooting in the village this year. A February shooting on West Belle Avenue also left a man dead. Both happened less than a mile apart.
Wednesday’s incident began on East Campbell Avenue near the intersection of North High Street when Rantoul Police say officers identified a car that was involved in an April case of fleeing and eluding. While one officer spoke with the driver, police say an armed passenger got out and ran through residents’ yards, where he tripped and fell on East Belle Avenue. He was shot after police say he turned toward an officer, holding a gun, while officers attempted to apprehend him.
“Ambulance and police. That’s all I saw,” one woman said.
WCIA spoke with a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous. She’s one of the many wondering what led to tragedy on her street.
“I just thought, you know, sometimes you’ll hear that and then everything clears and it’s no big deal but then they just kept coming and coming,” she said. “So it seemed like it was different.”
It was around 12:30 in the afternoon when Rantoul Police say they stopped a car that had fled from officers in April. An officer began what police called a “consensual conversation” with the driver, 20-year-old Jheremia McKown. They say the officer noticed a large amount of marijuana packaged inside the car.
“About that same time, a passenger exited the vehicle, took off running from the area, dropped the gun. The officer saw the person drop a gun, turn around, pick the gun back up and then take off,” Deputy Chief Justin Bouse said.
Bouse says the unnamed suspect ran through the houses between Campbell and Belle Avenues. He says the suspect was running up a driveway when he tripped and fell. Police say an officer asked him to stop and drop the gun.
“There’s a handgun still in his hand. [He] turned towards the officer with that handgun. The officer fired,” Bouse said.
He says that one round ultimately killed the individual suspected of illegal possession of a firearm. No officers were shot. Rantoul Police are conducting an internal investigation into the use of deadly force.
“Not only from the offender standpoint of – why are they having all these guns on the street, but also just looking and making sure that these investigations are transparent,” Bouse said.
As the events surrounding the shooting unfolded, Bouse says there was a struggle between the first officer and McKown.
“As the officer was trying to put him under arrest, [McKown] struck the officer in the face with a fist,” Bouse said.
Police say that resulted in minor injuries for the officer, who required further medical attention.
Throughout the day, people in the area told WCIA they’re both sad and surprised to see something like this happen in their neighborhood.
“During the day, I could be walking my dog and… People are talking about a shooting and it would just be unnerving to have to be in the crossfire in the middle of whatever is going on,” one woman said.
Right now, Bouse says police are asking for patience as they work to make more details available to the public.
“With the last officer involved shooting, we feel like we were very transparent getting all that information out,” Bouse said. “At the end of the day, we want the community to know that we take this seriously and that we want to be transparent and give them all the information when these things occur.”
Rantoul Police said once the suspect’s gun was secured, officers gave him medical assistance until he was taken to the hospital where he died. The officer who fired the shot and a second who was present during the shooting are on administrative leave. Bouse says he expects more information – including the names of those officers and the suspect who died – to be released as early as Thursday.
As for McKown, police say he was arrested on several charges, including unlawful use/possession of a weapon and delivery of marijuana. In addition to marijuana, police say they also found two loaded handguns and a large amount of money in the car.
