DECATUR -- Illinois State Police are investigating the shooting of a Decatur man by a police officer early Monday morning.
Officers were first called to the 800 Block of East Main around 1 a.m. on reports of a man with a gun, according to information from the Decatur Police Department. When they arrived, officers engaged with a man matching the description, and one officer fired a gun, hitting the man in the chest, police said.
The man, who has only been identified as a 40-year-old black man from Decatur, was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital and was listed in serious condition by the time of a 6:15 press conference. Interim Police Chief James Getz said the officer who fired the shot was a five-year veteran of the police force, and he said a second officer who responded was a four-year veteran of the force. Getz said both officers are white.
“The investigation of this incident has been turned over to Illinois State Police, which is standard protocol for the Decatur Police Department in any officer-involved shooting,” Getz said.
Getz also said emergency responders were dispatched to the scene 36 seconds after the shooting and arrived shortly thereafter.
Jeanelle Norman of the Area Leaders and Education Response Team, which has met for about one year to discuss police and community relations, called for “calmness … understanding … and togetherness.”
“We know that trust may be an issue, however, we, the ALERT team, are here to ensure that the process is properly followed,” Norman said. “Let’s show our community and the nation that Decatur will remain calm during these turbulent times in our nation and around the world.”
Several neighbors who were watching police at the shooting scene Monday morning, though, expressed their concern that the encounter between the man and police may have played out differently had he not been black. Many posted video of the scene on social media.
In the morning, police cars lined the streets, traffic was blocked off on East Main and Hilton, and police stood behind police tape around the scene. Illinois State Police crime scene investigators arrived as well, and state police officers interviewed potential witnesses.
One bystander yelled at police briefly before being pulled away by a woman.
