Police: St. Charles school board president saved 2 lives in thwarted shooting
St. Charles police say two lives were saved Tuesday night when Steven Spurling, the St. Charles District 303 school board president, tackled and disarmed a man accused of beating and then shooting at his wife in the middle of a subdivision.
"He saved two people's lives. Not only was the victim in the line of fire, (but Spurling's) wife was, too," said St. Charles police Deputy Chief Dave Kintz. "In those situations, people will just react. I wouldn't say to anyone that they should tackle an armed shooter. But in this case he did and it could have been a whole lot worse."
Scott J. Turyna, 65, of St. Charles, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated domestic battery and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence, according to Kane County court records.
Spurling and his wife were walking their dog when they came upon Turyna's wife, bloodied and running from the garage of their home on the 400 block of Hunt Club Drive.
"We were just trying to calm people down, get them separated, and all of a sudden the shooting started," Spurling said earlier this week.
The domestic dispute boiled over about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as Turyna was arguing with his wife about finances.
At one point, police said, he threatened to kill her, and as she tried to call police Turyna knocked the phone out of her hands, pushed her down, sat on her chest and started punching her in her head and upper body.
Then, police said, he let her up and headed for a cabinet where his wife knew a handgun was stored. She escaped the house through the garage.
Spurling said he saw the woman, bloodied and bruised, fall face down on the driveway. He and his wife tried to help her up, while Turyna yelled at them from the garage.
Spurling said he heard the first gunshot as he was calling police on his cellphone while the two women walked away. Turyna was pointing a brushed nickel-colored handgun at the women when Spurling grabbed Turyna from behind.
"I heard a shot and looked up," Spurling said. "I just tackled him and threw the gun to the ground so it was out of the way."
Police recovered Turyna's five-shot revolver and five spent shell casings from the scene.
Kintz said Turyna's wife, 55, was released from Delnor Hospital in Geneva Thursday. Citing privacy laws, Kintz could not detail her injuries, but he described them as "serious but not life-threatening."
Spurling held Turyna to the ground until police arrived. After searching the home, police found 26 firearms and around 3,000 rounds of ammunition. Turyna had a valid Firearm Owner Identification card, police said.
Police said there was no history of domestic-related calls to the Turyna house, nor does he have a history of any previous arrests in Kane County, court records show.
Turyna has retained defense attorney Gary Johnson to represent him in the case, which is next due in court May 27.
Johnson declined to comment Friday, adding he was hopeful his client would be able to post $50,000 of his $500,000 bail soon so he could be released from Kane County jail.
If Turyna does post bail, he must wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet and a GPS device and cannot go near his St. Charles home.
Turyna faces a minimum of 26 years in prison if convicted. The attempted murder charge carries six to 30 years in prison, and under state law an additional 20-year sentence can be imposed if a firearm was used.