A press release from the Lake County State’s Attorney:

Lake County State’s Attorney Michael G. Nerheim Announces Findings and Conclusions in the Investigation of the Officer Involved Fatal Shooting

(Lake County, IL May 14, 2015) On April 4, 2015, at approximately 1:55 p.m., Justus Howell was fatally shot by Officer Eric Hill of the Zion Police Department.

Shortly after the incident, Zion Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn requested the assistance of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force (LCMCTF).

The LCMCTF assumed the investigation of the incident.

The Zion Police Department cooperated fully in this investigation but played no active or direct role.

Within a day of the incident, the LCMCTF spoke with the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Civil Rights Division and requested that they oversee and assist with this investigation.

The FBI has done so.

This request was made to help ensure a completely independent and transparent investigation.

The investigation included over 22 separate investigators spending approximately 1000 investigative hours.

29 witnesses were interviewed and 50 leads were followed.

98 pieces of evidence were collected.

The case file includes 26 videos and hundreds of photographs.

The LCMCTF also utilized the services of Force Science Institute, an independent private company with recognized expertise in use of force matters, which included a review of

• witness statements
• physical evidence
• video
• trajectory/wound angles

In addition to Force Science, the LCMCTF also received assistance from independent audio/video experts in order to enhance some of the video evidence that was recovered.

Lake County State’s Attorney, Michael G. Nerheim has reviewed the entire investigation.

The facts are as follows:

Prior to the incident, Justus Howell sought the purchase of a handgun.

A third party introduced Howell to Tramond Peet so that Mr. Peet could sell Howell a handgun for $600.

Howell met Peet at Salem Grocery in Zion.

Howell and Peet left Salem Grocery together and proceeded to walk together through the neighborhood near Salem Grocery.

At one point, Howell asked Peet to show him the gun.

Peet handed Howell the handgun (later determined to be a silver Kimber 9mm semi-automatic handgun which had recently been stolen from a home in Lake Villa).

Howell took the gun from Peet without paying for it and a struggle ensued.

At one point during the struggle, Howell pointed the gun at Peet and threatened to shoot him.

Peet pushed the gun towards the ground and the gun discharged.

At least 5 separate witnesses indicated that they heard that single gunshot. One of those witnesses called 911 and reported that he heard a gunshot and was observing two subjects fighting near his back yard.

Officer Hill was one of several officers that responded to that dispatch of a shot fired with individuals fighting.

Officers arrived within 1-2 minutes of the dispatch.

As the officers responded, Howell was observed fleeing with the handgun in his right hand.

Officer Hill chased Howell on foot crossing several yards and down an alleyway.

During the foot pursuit, Officer Hill observed Howell to have a handgun in his right hand.

Several independent witnesses also observed Howell to be in possession of a handgun and refusing Officer Hill’s repeated commands to stop and drop the weapon.

Officer Hill was aware that he was responding to a fight with a shot fired and was chasing an armed subject who was running in the direction of his unsuspecting fellow-officer, and refusing repeated commands to drop the weapon.

As Howell continued to flee around the front of 2391 Galilee, Officer Hill observed Howell lean forward and turn slightly toward him with the handgun in his right hand.

At this point, Officer Hill was positioned behind and to the left of Howell.

Fearing for his life, as well as the life of the officer that was in Howell’s direction of travel, Officer Hill reacted by firing two shots in rapid succession at Howell.

Both shots struck Howell at an angle of back to front, upwards, and left to right.

This angle corroborates Officer Hill’s description of Howell being bent forward and turning to the left when he was shot.

This is also corroborated by the findings of the forensic pathologist and corroborated by the independent review by the Force Science Institute.

The loaded handgun that Howell was carrying was located within a foot of his body.

Laboratory reports from the Northeastern Illinois Crime Laboratory, an independent agency, confirmed that Howell’s thumbprint was located on the magazine of the gun and his DNA was located on the slide and trigger of the gun.

There are several videos, reports, and independent witness statements that corroborate these facts.

Based on the entire investigation, State’s Attorney Nerheim concluded that Officer Hill was justified in his decision to use deadly force.

This type of a decision by an officer can never be made lightly, nor is such a decision taken lightly by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“Deadly force should be used only as a last resort,”

said Nerheim.

Officer Hill provided Howell ample opportunity to drop the weapon and only fired when he felt that his life and the life of his fellow officer was in danger.

Therefore the facts are that:

• Justus Howell was armed and dangerous
• for those reasons Officer Hill was in fear of his life, and
• acted reasonably and justifiably to protect himself and his fellow officer

The full report, to which the public will have access, contains witness statements, lab reports, photos, video, pathology reports and other evidence that corroborates these findings.

In addition, an 11 page bullet-point summary of the investigation to the media.

“I appreciate that the community and the family of Justus Howell have been incredibly patient in awaiting the results of this investigation.

“As I indicated from the beginning, I insisted that this investigation be thorough, independent, and accurate,” said Nerheim.

“I promised the public that I would make a decision based solely on the facts and the law and that I would publically release the investigation.

“This I have done.

“Complete transparency is critical in any case, especially in cases where an officer exercises deadly force,” he added.

“I want to express my appreciation to the Lake County Major Crime Task Force for conducting such a thorough investigation, the FBI and Department of Justice for their cooperation and oversight, the Zion Police Department, and the people of Zion for their patience in getting through this difficult situation,” said Nerheim.

“Finally, my deepest condolences to the family of Justice Howell.

“This decision does not in any way take away the fact that they are suffering a tremendous loss,” Nerheim said.

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Additional information may be found here.