Joliet Police Shooting Update: Suspect Had Knife, Not Gun

JOLIET, IL - There was not an actual shootout between 38-year-old Joliet bank robbery suspect Bruce Carter and the Joliet Police officer who killed him at a house on Des Plaines Street, according to a new press bulletin issued Thursday evening.

Romeoville's deputy chief of police, Kenneth Kroll, issued the press release in his capacity of overseeing the Will County-Grundy County Major Crimes Task Force. The task force which consists of experienced police officers from around the two counties was tapped by the Joliet Police Department to oversee the probe into the deadly shooting of Carter, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. The officer who killed Carter was a Joliet Police officer.

On Wednesday, several news media outlets - including the Joliet Patch, reported that the Joliet bank robbery suspect was involved in a shootout with the officer at the home of the suspect's mother, on Joliet's southeast side.

The Joliet Herald-News published identical information and so did Chicago's major news radio stations.

About a half-block from the shooting, the Joliet Patch interviewed an older man who insisted that the Joliet Police were justified to use deadly force because Carter ran out of the house and fired a gun upon the police, prompting them to fire back. The man told Patch that he himself used to live at the house, on the corner of Des Plaines and Wallace Street.

However, the only gunfire came from the Joliet Police officer, not Carter, the Major Crimes Task Force press release states. Patch had reached out to Kroll around lunch time on Thursday after learning the dead bank robbery suspect may have actually had a knife and not a gun.

Around 5:40 p.m. Thursday, Kroll issued a press release confirming Carter was armed with a dangerous weapon, but it was a knife, not a loaded handgun.

"The Joliet Police went to this residence while investigating a bank robbery that occurred earlier in the day. Police were speaking with Bruce Carter, when according to a witness, and corroborated by physical evidence, a physical struggle ensued near the front porch of the residence.

"Mr. Carter was armed with a box-cutter style razor knife during the struggle. The officer discharged his firearm, striking Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter was transported to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Joliet where he was later pronounced deceased," the task force press statement reads.

The Joliet officer who shot and killed Carter was taken to Silver Cross Hospital. He suffered no injuries during the incident. The officer is now on paid leave. "The officer's name is being withheld pending completion of this investigation," the task force press release states.

Image via John Ferak/Joliet Patch