Police shoot man they say threatened them with knife at DeKalb, Illinois car dealership
DEKALB, Ill. (CBS) -- Police officers shot a man they said was threatening officers at knifepoint at a car dealership in DeKalb.
This was the second incident in which police shot someone in DeKalb County, Illinois, in 24 hours.
In the latest incident, which happened within the city of DeKalb, police said a man stabbed someone and was threatening officers with a knife when they fired.
The incident happened in the showroom at Brian Bemis Toyota of DeKalb, at 1890 Sycamore Rd., near Greenwood Acres Drive. Police said they were told the man wielding the knife walked in and acted like he was looking at some vehicles—and then out of nowhere, pulled out the weapon.
Police said the man threatened several employees and cut the manager with a knife before officers arrived. Dispatch audio indicated that the man had stabbed the manager of the Toyota dealership in the hand and was breaking items inside.
DeKalb city officials said officers in two squads responded. When officers entered the showroom, they quickly encountered the man.
"The person was commanded to drop the weapon, did not, commanded again, did not, and then advanced towards the officers," said DeKalb City Manager Bill Niklas, "
The investigation revealed both officers fired several rounds at the man—right in front of the employees.
"They were quite shaken by the whole thing,' Niklas said.
CBS News Chicago is told officer rendered aid to the victim, who was alert when taken to the hospital. He was later transferred by airlift to a hospital in Rockford, where he was fighting for his life late Wednesday.
DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes pointed out the officer had a split second to deescalate the situation.
"We needed to stop the threat that was before us, and in this situation, they needed to stop someone who was actively attacking someone with a deadly weapon and was going to continue to do so despite the commands from police," said Barnes.
Late Wednesday, it was not clear the intent of the injured suspect. Police late Wednesday were looking into whether he was a disgruntled customer or someone who decided to act out his anger randomly at the dealership.
What is clear is that the events of the day were captured on cameras inside the dealership and police-worn body cameras.
"It's going to be able to show exactly what transpired," Barnes said. "What it's going to show is our officers handled themselves with the utmost professionalism."
The earlier incident happened in DeKalb Township outside the city of DeKalb. Shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office was notified of a vehicle wanted in connection with a shooting in Rockford, according to the sheriff's office.
Traffic cameras spotted the vehicle in Sycamore, and a pursuit ensued. Deputies used stop sticks to deflate the vehicle's tires, and found the suspect was armed with a hostage in the car, police said.
The hostage was released unharmed after a standoff of several hours, but the suspect remained in the car, and later fired several shots at officers—who fired back and killed him, authorities said.