Demonstrators protesting fatal shooting force Mundelein to cancel board meeting
Demonstrators protesting the fatal shooting of a Mundelein woman by police temporarily occupied the boardroom inside village hall Monday night, prompting the cancellation of a scheduled meeting.
The protest came less than a week after Lake County prosecutors announced no charges would be filed in the death of 37-year-old Mary Alice Love, who was killed by Mundelein police at her home May 11 during a mental health crisis.
The demonstration began about 6 p.m. outside village hall, 300 Plaza Circle. The board meeting was scheduled for 7 p.m.
Eventually the demonstration moved inside. It broke up around 8 p.m. without any arrests, Police Chief Thomas Poynor said.
Love was killed after police responded to a 911 call from her mother, Jeffry, who told a dispatcher her daughter had bipolar disorder and was suicidal.
When officers arrived at the family’s home on Ashbrook Drive, Mary Alice Love was outside on a rear patio and armed with two knives. Body-worn camera video released by police shows Love being shot after opening a rear sliding-glass door leading to where her mother and some officers had gathered.
The Love family and their supporters have demanded police Sgt. Christopher Brigano, who reportedly filed the fatal shots, be fired and charged and that other officers be disciplined.
The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spent months investigating the shooting. After reviewing the evidence, prosecutors didn’t feel they could prove officers committed any crimes that day, State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Thursday.
The Love family responded by filing a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Mundelein and Brigano. It alleges Brigano used excessive force and that the village failed to properly teach Brigano and other officers about proper methods of reasonable force, how to de-escalate encounters with mentally ill citizens and the use of deadly force.
A departmental investigation into whether officers actions were consistent with policies, procedures and training is ongoing. Brigano remains on paid administrative leave, pending that investigation’s outcome.
rlissau@dailyherald.com