After CBS 2 investigation, Will County officials will let family see body cam video in police shooting incident in which young man, grandfather died
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) -- Will County officials confirmed Wednesday that they will now allow a grieving family to view body camera video from a fatal police shooting after months of denying their requests to see it.
On Nov. 6, 2021, Will County Sheriff Office deputies shot and killed 21-year-old Jabbar Muhammad in Joliet Township. In a news release after the shooting, officials said they shot Muhammad to stop him from stabbing his grandfather, Eldred Wells, Sr.
A Will County Sheriff's office spokesman issued the following statement Wednesday:
"The Will County Sheriff's Office has been in contact with Will County States Attorney's Office in regards to allowing the family to view the officers Body Worn Cameras (BWC). Initially, the Will County State's Attorney's Office requested that this not be done. After speaking with them recently, they have concluded that showing the video to the family would not compromise the investigation. I spoke to the family Attorney, Ian Barney, today at great lengths to schedule the viewing of the BWC. From my conversation with Mr. Barney, the earliest that will happen is sometime next week. The Sheriff plans on holding a press conference upon the conclusion of the investigation. I don't anticipate anyone from the task force or the Sheriff's Office making any further statements until we receive the evidence back from the crime lab or the case is concluded."
An initial statement from the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force said specifically that deputies arrived to find Jabbar "armed with a knife and threatening his grandfather." It also said deputies attempted to de-escalate the situation, but when Jabbar stabbed Eldred in the neck, police fired shots several times "in defense of Eldred's life."
But CBS 2 uncovered that wasn't the full story. On Monday, CBS 2 reported how deputies shot 70-year-old Wells too, but never told the public. Wells also died. It's unclear what his cause of death is because the Will County Coroner won't release the autopsy report.
Paramedic reports obtained by the family, and reviewed by CBS 2, detail a chaotic scene. One report said when paramedics arrived, officers found Jabbar and Eldred "laying on the ground in a pool of blood, with two officers doing compressions on both patients."
Another paramedic report said Jabbar had 15 gunshot wounds – three in the head and 12 in other parts of his body. Paramedics also found stab wounds to Eldred's neck and shoulder. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
But there was something else in the reports the family didn't know until they got the patient care report for Eldred around a month after the incident. While paramedics reviewed Eldred's body, they noticed a gunshot wound to his back and to his left hand – information the Task Force never disclosed in any of their public statements about the incident.
In addition, Muhammad struggled with mental illness and deputies had previously been called to his home, CBS 2 learned. But the Task Force did not disclose that information to the public either.
The family of Muhammad and Wells have asserted they deserve to see the body camera video and other records related to the shooting to understand what happened to their loved ones. But they've experienced repeated roadblocks.
Over the last five months, the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force and the Will County State's Attorney's Office – both of whom are investigating the shooting – refused to show the family the body camera video.
Those agencies also denied CBS 2's requests for the video and other documents related to the shooting.
"We buried a brother, a son," said Sadie Mitchell, Eldred's sister. "We're waiting for the answers, and we have already waited too long."
On Monday, CBS 2 also reported how the family's attorney, Ian Barney, filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit on their behalf to pressure the WCSO and the Will County Coroner's Office to release the video and autopsy reports.
The agencies involved have all maintained showing or releasing the video and other documents would impede the open investigation. But it appears officials have changed their minds.
On Wednesday, two days after CBS 2's reporting on the shooting, Barney said WCSO officials contacted him to schedule for the family to view the video privately.
Barney said he was "a little surprised" by the decision to let the family see the body cam video.
"They have waited a long time for this, and as they've said throughout, this is really about finding out the truth about what happened to their loved ones – and they have been really, really kind of anguish not knowing the truth," Barney said. "So I'm very happy for them that they're going to have this opportunity to learn more about what happened to Jabbar and Eldred."
He said the family is looking forward to viewing the body camera footage and getting answers.
"This is a really important update for the family," Barney said. "They have been waiting five months – more than five months now, actually – to see the body camera footage and to learn the facts of what actually happened to Jabbar and Eldred. They've gone through a lot of anguish over this shooting incident, they have struggled with the process of grieving their loved ones."
Barney said he informed the family on Wednesday afternoon. While they are happy about the prospect of watching the video, they are "still in a lot of pain."
"So they're happy in a sense that they get to learn what happened to Jabbar and Eldred, but they're also still going through that grieving process," Barney said. "I don't know if bittersweet is the right word, but they're just glad to be able to get more information about the deaths of Jabbar and Eldred."
Barney said he does not know what changed Will County officials' mind about the body cam video, but he did emphasize how the family's pain came across in the story Monday by CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini – and said our story may have played a role.
"Anybody who watched that story could see that these were people who were in pain, and part of that pain was caused by the fact that they didn't know what happened and still don't know what happened to Jabbar and Eldred," he said.
Barney said body cam video should be released as soon after a police shooting as possible – barring extraordinary circumstances.
"It is paramount when it comes to public trust and the trust of families involved in these types of situations that in my view that government officials release as much information as they can," Barney said.
The Task Force will release the video to the public once all investigations into the shooting are complete, a spokesperson said. Officials have not given a timeline for when that will be.