2019/04/29 - Mayor's Column: A Great Community Comes Together
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
A rare and unfortunate event occurred last week in O’Fallon. My deepest condolences go out to the family of Sherry Billups. She was taken too soon and in a senseless manner. Sometimes we will never get the answers that we so need. However, I am confident that justice will be served to the person that committed the crime. We will never tolerate such acts. Our Police Department will take all appropriate action and force to apprehend anyone involved, if they do occur.
The O’Fallon Police Department and all other departments that provided assistance deserve applause and thanks. Within minutes from when the call was received by our telecommunications center, our first responders were on scene. The scene and surrounding neighborhood were quickly secured. Our priority, in addition to finding the person responsible, was to protect the safety of our residents and first responders.
There were a lot of moving parts during the investigation. We made every attempt to keep the O’Fallon community and media informed of what was going on. At certain times, we needed to withhold certain details to respect the privacy of the victim’s family, and the safety of our first responders and community.
Within one day, the suspect was apprehended in a neighboring state. By law, the suspect is innocent until proven guilty, but I want to thank everyone for their assistance in the apprehension. It was through good police work and participation from an engaged community that we were able to quickly act.
This community is special. When the crime was committed, there were numerous good Samaritans that attempted to provide aid to the victim. They put their own safety aside as they sprung to action.
The support and participation from the community was amazing. One of the news channels stated that the O’Fallon Community had come together in support of the investigation – sharing updates through social media, providing witness statements, and offering help – better than any other community they have ever seen. The involvement of the community really made a difference. The media and social media help us get the message out in ways that nobody could have ever imagined years ago.
Thank you to everyone for the support during that difficult day.
I am sure that to the family of Sherry Billups, the emotional pain will never go away. But I do hope that they will soon have some closure. The O’Fallon Community supports you through this tough time.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!