Fatal Police Shooting: Civil Lawsuit Filed Against Elk Grove Village

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL — The family of Jack Murray, a 24-year-old Elk Grove Village resident who was shot and killed by police during an incident last December, has filed a civil lawsuit over how the situation was handled. At a Thursday press conference in Chicago, family representatives and lawyers for the family described Murray as an "emotionally distressed person" when he confronted police with a knife outside his Fern Drive home.

"We remain in grief and disbelief over what happened that day," said Donna Murray, Jack's mother, who is named as the plaintiff in the filing. "We as a family never anticipated that Jack's cries for help would lead to a deadly shooting and the loss of our son and brother."

Counts in the complaint include: willful and wanton, wrongful death; willful and wanton, survival action; battery, wrongful death; battery, survival action on behalf of the estate of Jack Murray; and intentional infliction of emotional distress on behalf of the plaintiff.

The family is being represented by the Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. The firm announced shortly after the incident it was launching a civil investigation into the way officers treated Murray, who they say was known by police from previous calls and encounters. The family believes police officers should have done more to de-escalate the situation and get Murray the help he needed.

"It was only a minute-and-a-half. That's all the time Elk Grove Village police officers took from their initial approach to Jack Murray, who was disoriented and slurring his words, ninety seconds," attorney Antonio Romanucci said Thursday. "The tragedy is that officers arriving on the scene acknowledged, and they knew that Jack had a history of emotional distress and those officers had available to them multiple non-lethal weapons and tactics, and had undergone crisis intervention training."

On Dec. 1, 2023, Murray, a Type-1 diabetic, was experiencing physical and emotional distress from the disease according to his family. He had placed a 911 call prior to the arrival of police to the 200 block of Fern Drive, just a few doors down from the Murray home, where Jack resided.

According to police, Murray approached officers with a knife during the incident and ignored "numerous" commands to drop the weapon and put his hands up. Murray was soon thereafter shot and killed by police after he reportedly confronted them with a knife.

Calling it a "less lethal option," Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said at the time police twice used a Taser on Murray before fatally shooting him. Murray was taken to a local hospital following the shooting, where he was later pronounced dead.

"The Mayor has now made himself a witness and an 'expert' on policing. We fully intend to explore all of his knowledge and opinions," Romanucci said.

Audio and video footage from the incident was released two weeks after the shooting by Elk Grove Village officials. In-squad dashboard cameras and officers' body-worn cameras show the final moments of an encounter.

In the video, Murray is shown walking along a sidewalk near his home. Police begin interacting with him as he walks down the sidewalk in their direction. Murray is seen carrying an 11.5-inch knife. Police ask Murray to drop the knife before using a Taser to subdue him when he appears to not respond to their commands. Murray, seemingly unaffected by the Taser, continues walking toward police when shots ring out.

"This incident is undoubtedly difficult for the family, and for our community to process," Johnson said in the nearly 30-minute video, which includes blurred imagery. "It is our hope that by providing more information about this incident will give everyone a better understanding of what took place and help in the process of healing."

The five police officers involved in the incident, who are not named in the lawsuit, were placed on administrative leave.

"Our civil complaint painstakingly details officers' use of excessive force on Jack, a known
emotionally distressed person, and their failure to employ any effective de-escalation tactics to
preserve Jack's life and get him the assistance he needed," said Javier Rodriguez, Jr. an attorney at Romanucci & Blandin. "The Elk Grove Police Department and its officers had prior encounters with this young man and knew, or should have known, that Jack would experience episodes of emotional distress."

RELATED:

• Fatal Police Shooting Video, Audio Released In Elk Grove Village
• Police Used Taser Prior To Fatal Shooting In Elk Grove Village — Mayor
• Elk Grove Village Man Wielding Knife Shot, Killed By Police — PD