Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
April 28, 2009
What a tragic night in O’Fallon. You may have seen TV and newspaper reports this morning about the shooting last night on Estate Drive. Last night, just after 9:00 p.m., the O’Fallon Police Department received a 911 call of a possible break-in at an apartment
in the 200 block of Estate Dr. Upon arriving in the area, officers checked the area and could not locate anyone matching the description of the suspects that the caller had provided. Officers went to the address where the call originated and knocked on the door. After a second knock a male inside the residence told the officers to “come in.” They opened the door, identified themselves as the police and began to enter. They immediately noticed a female victim lying on the floor in a large pool of blood. Upon calling for medical help, they observed a male inside the apartment with a rifle in his hand. Numerous commands were given for the individual to drop the weapon and he refused to comply. One of the officers present discharged his weapon and the male collapsed. EMS responded to the scene and determined that both individuals were deceased.
This is the first homicide in O’Fallon since 2007 and the first shooting incident involving an O’Fallon police officer in more than 20 years. As is standard procedure after an incident involving police officers, the Illinois State Police will conduct the investigation so as to avoid any potential conflict of interest. All officers involved directly with the incident have been placed on paid Administrative Leave, as outlined in our department policy. Counseling also will be available to the officers.
My heart goes out to the families of the deceased individuals. It will be difficult for them to move on after such a tragic incident.
We also must attend to the needs of the officers and their families. Officers are trained to use their weapons and they know there is always a potential for violence in their job. Nevertheless, police shootings are rare and it is only human to require some help to bring closure to the incident.
We live in a quiet, law-abiding community. Our crime rate is very low and we average one homicide about every other year. But we are not immune to violence in our society.
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