Obviously justified and the states' attorney thinks so as well.
The article is very well written. Like Sgt Friday said "just stick to the facts..."
https://www.news-gazette.com/news/l...14b6b42-4ea6-5782-b55c-309b637d7faa.html"RANTOUL — The same officer who shot Jordan Richardson as he ran because he refused to drop a gun also tried to save his life.
“He just wouldn’t drop the (expletive) gun. I don’t understand,” Sgt. Jerry King said to a fellow officer as he applied pressure to the chest of the 18-year-old he shot seconds earlier.
On Wednesday, State’s Attorney Julia Rietz concluded that the actions of the 10-year officer on the afternoon of June 7 constituted a justifiable use of lethal force.
“Sgt. Jerry King’s use of deadly force in firing his weapon in Richardson’s direction while Richardson was in possession of a firearm and disobeying commands to drop the weapon were legally justifiable given the totality of the circumstances,” she said.
Rietz said she reviewed body-camera footage, security video from nearby homes, autopsy results and reports from officers from five police agencies in coming to her conclusion."
"Mr. Richardson’s mother and aunt, she said, were briefed Wednesday morning by representatives of the multi-jurisdictional investigative team led by Illinois State Police. Rietz said they were given the opportunity to watch the police videos of what happened before the information was made public.
Rantoul police set up a page on the city’s website that includes a synopsis, a timeline, the reports from all officers involved body-camera and home-security footage, and a METCAD radio recording."
"Police Chief Tony Brown said King, who has no disciplinary issues in his record and was the 2018 Officer of the Year, has been on administrative leave for three weeks and is expected to return to duty immediately.
Brown said the department will continue its own internal review to make sure the response was consistent with department policy and training.
“While this incident is undoubtedly tragic, it underscores the difficult and complex decisions law-enforcement officers face daily in the line of duty. The safety of our officers and the community remains our utmost priority, and we continuously strive to improve our training, policies and procedures to minimize such occurrences,” said Brown, having to address his community for the second time in 2023 over an officer-involved shooting.
“I want to express my gratitude to the community for their patience and trust throughout this process,” he said.
How it began
In his report, Wissel said he had stopped the Dodge Avenger in which Mr. Richardson was a passenger because that same car, which had expired plates, had fled from him in April.
McKown, 20, its driver, got out as soon as Wissel pulled up in the 400 block of East Campbell and admitted being the owner but claimed his cousin was the one who fled from Wissel earlier.
As McKown made a move to get back in the car, Wissel told him not to, displaying his Taser as he gave him the order.
It was at that point he saw Mr. Richardson in the passenger seat and told him to put his hands on the dash. McKown is heard saying, “Bro, you’re good. Go.”
McKown then began “actively” fighting with Wissel, hitting the officer in the mouth so hard it broke one of his teeth. During the struggle, Wissel saw Mr. Richardson run from the car, drop a handgun on the sidewalk, then immediately pick it up.
Another officer ran after Mr. Richardson as Wissel continued his struggle with McKown.
Once they got McKown under control, police found cash and a bag of pills in his pockets.
In the front and back seats of the Dodge, they found a total of six large bags of cannabis, estimated to weigh 6 pounds. Under the driver’s seat were two loaded Glock handguns. Police found about $2,600 in cash in the car and more on Mr. Richardson.
McKown told Wissel he didn’t know his passenger and didn’t know who owned the guns or the cannabis.
Later, at the Rantoul Police Department, McKown “somehow got out of the holding cell and into the general holding area. Jeremiah tried to open the back door to the lockup to presumably escape custody. Jeremiah was resecured in a cell,” Wissel wrote.
Detective Matt Bross wrote that as he was tending to Mr. Richardson after the latter had been shot, cash fell out of his hooded sweatshirt. Bross said he recognized him from having investigated him for an unrelated crime in Rantoul and also believed the gun that was on the ground near his body was the same one he had seen posted by Mr. Richardson in a photograph posted to Instagram that showed him with three guns."...
