$10.5 million settlement in Elk Grove Village police shooting case

A 10-point-5 million-dollar settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over the 2023 police shooting of a 24-year-old man in Elk Grove Village.

And the plaintiff’s attorneys are taking issue with a statement made by Mayor Craig Johnson commending the officers.

Jack Murray was having a mental health episode, according to his family, when he called 911 and said “someone is acting erratic with a knife.”

It was December first in 2023.

Police encountered Murray near his family’s home, walking on a sidewalk with a knife in his hand.

They knew him, having had previous experience with Murray, according to the family.

It was December first of 2023.

Murray had called 911, himself, before going outside. He was slurring his words. He said “someone is acting erratic with a knife.”

His family said he was having a mental health episode.

Two tasers were fired by officers. Body-camera video showed that Murray kept walking and seconds later he was shot by the officers.

“He was crying for help and instead he got five bullets,” said the family’s attorney, Antonio Romanucci.

He said during a press conference that he was “appalled” by Mayor Johnson’s comments during a village board meeting that the mayor was “beyond disappointed with the outcome (the settlement) given that the officers and their actions were exonerated by multiple agencies.”

Johnson said “I commend them for following the appropriate protocols that they’ve been taught throughout a tense and difficult situation.”

“Say that to their face,” Romanucci said, standing with family members. “You tell them directly that you’re disappointed by a settlement to give something back to this family for the killing of their son by Elk Grove Village police.”

Police did not try to de-escalate the situation, Romanucci said, and they admitted that, with one officer testifying that they “drew a line in the sand” as Murray walked toward them, shooting him instead of backing off and using other techniques they've learned in training.

Jack Murray’s mother, Donna, spoke during the press conference.

She said this date, June 17, 2026, “marks 929 days, just over two and a half years of not having Jack in our lives.”

She said she doesn't want him to be remembered for the body-camera video.

She said her son “was loving, caring, funny and extremely smart” and that “he will be remembered for being that great, awesome Jack.”