Elk Grove mayor: Cops first used Taser as ‘less lethal option’ before fatal shooting

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said police officers first deployed a Taser as a “less lethal option” before fatally shooting a man with a knife who continued to advance on them.

In a prepared statement at a village board meeting Tuesday night, Johnson said officers involved in the Dec. 1 encounter outside a home on Fern Drive utilized crisis intervention, mental health and de-escalation tactics on which they were trained.

Johnson promised authorities soon would release 9-1-1 dispatch audio, and audio and video from police body and dashboard cameras.

“The village understands and respects the desire for information and transparency for the community to better understand the events that took place,” Johnson said.

Antonio Romanucci, the attorney for the family of 24-year-old Jack Murray, said in a written statement Wednesday he was “beyond disheartened” by Johnson’s report, which came a day after the mayor refused a request to meet with Murray’s family. Johnson instead “chose to share a detailed narrative of what he says transpired without providing any proof to substantiate it,” Romanucci said.

“Imagine being a grieving parent or sibling and hearing a statement like that read in a public forum while you are desperate for details about how your loved one died. We find that shameful,” Romanucci said. “We are deeply concerned that the mayor would share any detail from this tragedy with the public before meeting privately with the grieving family. We would all want our loved ones to be given that respect. We will not go away.”

The attorney demanded the immediate release of the 9-1-1 call and body and dash-cam video, and that the family be allowed to view it first.

Johnson said officials would share that information “as soon as we can.” But in the meantime, the disclosure of details is to “address some of the questions we have received from the community,” he added.

In his recount of the incident, Johnson said officers were dispatched to the Fern Drive residence in response to a 9-1-1 call regarding a man with a knife. Officers tried to keep Murray in the house by providing instructions via the 9-1-1 dispatcher, who relayed the information to an individual inside the house, Johnson said.

Soon, Murray came outside while holding an 11 1/2-inch knife and advanced toward officers, who were staged several houses away, Johnson said.

He said Murray ignored “numerous” commands to put the knife down and his hands up while continuing to advance toward the cops.

They deployed a Taser as he came close, but he continued to advance and still was holding the knife when lethal force was applied, Johnson said.

He said officers started first aid and emergency life-saving measures until paramedics took over. Murray was taken by ambulance to Ascension Alexian Brothers Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

An investigation by the multi-jurisdictional Major Case Assistance Team into how Elk Grove officers handled the incident is ongoing, while Elk Grove police complete their own probe. Five officers involved in the Dec. 1 shooting incident remain on temporary administrative leave.