No charges for officers in fatal police shooting of Chicago area man, prosecutor says
CHICAGO (CBS) – DuPage County prosecutors won't bring any criminal charges against the Carol Stream police officers involved in the fatal police shooting of Isaac Goodlow III inside his apartment last February.
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin announced the decision on Wednesday that he wouldn't charge Officer Daniel Pfingston, or any of the officers involved in the shooting, after a months-long investigation.
Police shot Goodlow, 30, in his bedroom on Feb. 3 at the Villagebrook Apartments at 260 E. St. Charles Road after responding to a reported domestic violence incident. They were responding to that alleged incident when they entered the one-bedroom apartment.
Carol Stream police released body camera footage of the shooting from all six officers who entered the apartment after they spoke with the alleged domestic violence victim, who said she was hurt in a physical altercation with Goodlow.
Goodlow was shot inside his bedroom almost immediately after police opened the door, including once in the chest. He died at a nearby hospital. Carol Stream police have said the situation was "tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving," which led to the shooting.
The Village of Carol Stream said in a statement on Wednesday that Goodlow's death "is a tragedy that has caused a great amount of pain to his family and in our community." The Carol Stream Police Department has done a "thorough review of its policies and procedures" and has set up new training opportunities for officers that focus on "communication, tactics, and decision-making," after the shooting, the village said.
The village also said that as of May 2, Pfingston, a probationary officer at the time of the shooting, was no longer employed by the village, but declined to give a reason.
Prosecutor's telling of events
In his description of the events leading up to the shooting, Berlin said officers were dispatched to the scene at 4:14 a.m. The alleged victim, Goodlow's girlfriend, told officers that Goodlow had hit her "on my [expletive] face." She said during a fight with Goodlow, she ran into the bathroom, but he "busted the door down," and threw her into a bathtub. She fought back and scratched him as he struck her. She was able to free herself and run out of the apartment.
Officers saw she had a cut bleeding on her bottom lip and a black eye. She told officers she was worried about her dog and phone, which were still in the apartment, and consented to officers trying to enter the apartment.
The officers first knocked on Goodlow's door and yelled "police" at 4:18 a.m. They called him and continued to knock on the door, with no answer, through 4:52 a.m. They sought permission from the alleged victim to enter the apartment and entered at 5:10 a.m. with a key provided by a Villagebrook maintenance employee.
The officers came inside the apartment in a single-file line, with Pfingston first in line with a ballistic shield in his left hand and his gun drawn. Another officer had a Taser device unholstered. Other officers had flashlights as they entered the unlit apartment.
Berlin said Goodlow was hiding behind the mostly closed bedroom door when police entered the apartment. Pfingston kicked open the bedroom door. Berlin said Goodlow "took a sudden and quick lateral step from behind the door and immediately stepped towards Officer Pfingston with his right arm bent and his right hand about shoulder height moving toward Officer Pfingston in an aggressive manner." Pfingston said it appeared to him that "Goodlow was either pointing something at me, throwing something at me or reaching for my firearm. Due to the poor lighting conditions, I could not determine what was in his hands."
Pfingston then fired a single gunshot at Goodlow, striking him in the chest, about 12 seconds after officers entered the apartment.
Toward the end of his statment, Berlin said, "I am not concluding that Officer Pfingston was justified in his use of deadly force. My conclusion, rather, is that the State cannot meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Pfingston was not legally justified in using deadly force."
Just weeks after the shooting, Goodlow's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Carol Stream Police Department, in which they claimed the officers were aware his girlfriend was not in the apartment when they arrived at the scene. They also claimed that police were at the building for more than 50 minutes without contacting Goodlow before raiding his apartment without justification. His family had also said Goodlow was unarmed when he was shot.
Immediately after the shooting, Officer Nick Janetis discharged his Taser, striking Pfingston in the right shoulder. Another officer pushed over a fourth officer, causing him to accidentally fire his gun, which hit the brick wall behind the drywall in the bathroom. Berlin said neither occurrences impacted Goodlow or contribute to his death.
"Pain all over again"
The decision came as a devastating blow to Goodlow's family, who have criticized the police department's handling of the case.
"I want justice for my son, Isaac, because I feel the pain all over again," said Bonnie Pigram, Goodlow's mother.
Goodlow's family has repeatedly said he was unarmed when he was shot.
"They don't want to tell the truth or they hiding something because they know what they did, how they came into his apartment, they was wrong," Pigram said.
In a previous interview with CBS 2, members of Goodlow's family also claimed that when police released the body camera footage of the shooting, a portion of the video was missing. They said they saw the alleged missing portion when they were privately shown the footage before it was released publicly.
Berlin appeared to address this allegation in his announcement on Wednesday. He said at the request of Goodlow's family, the telecommunications company Motorola Solutions, Inc. performed an audit of the body camera video files, in which it verified "the body worn camera files had not been altered or modified in any way."
An attorney for Goodlow's family said on Wednesday that they will move forward with their civil lawsuit.
"We are going to fight," said Lavasia Pigram, Goodlow's cousin. "It's war. We're gonna fight. We're not letting this go."
