Crime & Safety
Bodycam Of Will Co. Deputies Fatally Shooting Grandfather Released
Will Co. Sheriff's deputies Nick Binnendyk and Desmond Warren fatally shot Eldred Wells, 70, who was the victim of a domestic disturbance.
JOLIET, IL — On Monday, the Will County Sheriff's Office finally released the body camera footage of last November's deadly police shooting of Eldred Wells, the 70-year-old Preston Heights man who was the victim of a domestic disturbance inside his own house. His grandson was also killed in the shooting.
Although family members called the Will County Sheriff's Office to de-escalate the situation, both Wells and his grandson, Jabbar Muhammad, 21, were fatally shot multiple times by Will County Sheriff's deputies Nick Binnendyk and Desmond "Dez" Warren.
The shooting came seconds after the sheriff's deputies entered the family's living room on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.
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Although Muhammad was armed with a knife, he had not attacked his grandfather prior to the arrival of Binnendyk and Warren.
Shortly after entering the living room, Binnendyk began screaming at Muhammad to drop the knife. Just four hours earlier, Muhammad had been released from the Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital in New Lenox to the home he shared with his grandfather, Wells, around 11:50 a.m.
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In the video, as the sheriff's deputy continues screaming at Muhammad, Muhammad lunges at his grandfather and stabs him in the neck. Binnendyk and Warren begin firing their guns, shooting both the grandson and his grandfather several times.
This past summer, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow determined that Warren and Binnendyk would not face any criminal charges in connection with the shooting deaths of Wells and Muhammad at the ranch-style house in the 300 block of Middletree Road.
Prior to joining Will County, Binnendyk was employed as an officer for the Shorewood Police Department.
In October, Joliet Patch reported that a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Will County Sheriff's Office on behalf of Wells' family.
"Plaintiff’s Decedent Eldred Wells Sr. had done nothing to cause the deputies to fire their weapons at him during this encounter," the lawsuit argues.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS DISTURBING CONTENT
Related Joliet Patch coverage of Eldred Wells, Jabbar Muhammad shootings:
Will County Fails To Disclose It Shot 70-Year-Old Man: FOIA Lawsuit
Sheriff Rejects FOIA For Body Camera Video In Grandfather's Killing
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