RANTOUL, Ill. (WAND) — The Rantoul Police Department has released the names of the officers involved in a shooting on Monday night.
Officer Jose Aceves and Officer Rikki McComas have been put on paid administrative leave pending the case review by the Champaign County State Attorney's Office.
Few details of the incident have been released beyond a "physical encounter with an armed male subject and shots were fired."
The male subject was identified by Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup as 21-year-old Azaan Lee of Champaign, Illinois, formerly of Chicago. The officers involved were uninjured.
Rantoul PD said the department is cooperating with the investigation by the Champaign County Multi-Jurisdictional Investigative Team (CCMJIT), which is led by Illinois State Police investigators.
"Officer-involved shooting investigations are complex, and there are multiple pieces of information that must be confirmed and analyzed,” said Rantoul Police Chief Anthony Brown. “The Rantoul Police Department’s goal is to be as transparent as possible while ensuring a thorough and impartial investigation. We intend to make a full detailing of the events available to the public as soon as we are permitted to do so by the CCMJIT and the Champaign County State’s Attorney.”
Officer Aceves has been with the department since April of 2022 and Officer McComas has been with the department since 2019.
“Transparency is one of our core values, and we certainly appreciate our obligation to be responsive to the needs of our community,” Brown said. “We are grateful for the community’s patience with respect to the investigation and our desire for a thorough investigation to proceed.”
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