WAUKEGAN (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A Waukegan police officer shot two people - one fatally - late Tuesday night, after the car they were in reversed toward the officer in the north suburb. Now, a lot of people want answers.
The incident began shortly before midnight when a Waukegan police officer was investigating a vehicle with two people inside near Liberty Street and Oak Street, police said. While the officer was investigating, the driver of the car drove off.
Moments later, another officer spotted the car near Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and South Avenue, police said. As that officer approached on foot, the car reversed and the officer fired his pistol out of “fear for his safety,” police said.
The driver, a Waukegan woman in her 20s, and the teenage passenger were both hit by gunfire, police said. The woman was hospitalized in serious condition and is expected to recover. The passenger, a 19-year-old black man from Waukegan, was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
No weapon was found in the vehicle, police said. Both officers involved each have five years of experience with the department.
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Clifftina Johnson, the mother of the woman driving, told CBS 2, “She said he just started shooting. She said, ‘Mama, he let every clip out that he could!’ She said, ‘Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!’”
Johnson’s daughter, who she identified as Tafara Williams, was shot and wounded. The man who was killed was her boyfriend, Marcellis Stinnette.
“She said she just pled to the police for her life,” Johnson said. “She said that she wanted to see her babies. She said… she want to see her babies.”
Body camera and squad car video was turned over to the Illinois State Police, who are investigating the incident, Waukegan police Commander Edgar Navarro said in an email.
In a statement released Wednesday, Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim said that it may be several weeks before Illinois State Police finish their investigation, and that only then will his office be able to review their findings.
“Once I have had the opportunity to review the entire investigation, I will make a determination regarding whether the officers violated any laws. Should it be determined the officers violated a law, they will be criminally charged,” Nerheim said. “If laws were not broken, I will write up a detailed statement that will completely review the facts, show the evidence, explain applicable laws, and give our reasoning for the final decision.”
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham knows the investigation will have interest well beyond his city.
“I look like I look, I look nervous. I am nervous, because I’m nervous for Waukegan,” Cunningham said. “We’ve seen this play out throughout this country, but it just rips through communities.”
The mayor, who knows the family of both people who were shot personally, is calling on anyone with any evidence to come forward.
“Give it to a friend, but we need it now so these questions can be answered,” Cunningham said. “It just doesn’t hurt me. It doesn’t the police department – it hurts Waukegan, Illinois.”
A rally is being held in Waukegan on Thursday by the local Black Lives Matter chapter.