Coroner IDs Teen Fatally Shot By Police

WAUKEGAN, IL — A peaceful protest is planned Thursday and two families are demanding justice after a police officer shot a woman and a teenager in Waukegan this week. The shooting wounded Tafara Williams and killed Marcellis Stinnette, 19.

Meanwhile, the Illinois State Police has launched an investigation to determine if the two Waukegan Police Department officers involved in the shooting are in the wrong, according to a statement from Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim.

The shooting occurred in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and South Avenue late Tuesday night. At about 11:55 p.m., a police officer was investigating a vehicle with two people inside when that vehicle fled, police said in a statement. Moments later, a different officer saw the vehicle and approached it.

It's not clear what led police to investigate the car or whether Williams and Stinnette were being detained when they drove away.

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According to statements from the Waukegan Police Department and state's attorney's office, the vehicle began to reverse, and the officer — who was described as a Hispanic man with less than five years of police experience — fired his semi-automatic pistol "in fear for his safety."

Tina Johnson, Williams' mother, disputes that account of the shooting. She told media outlets Wednesday that her daughter said she and Stinnette were unarmed, they put their arms up, and "the officer just came and let every bullet that he had in his clip loose."

The gunfire hit the driver, Williams, and Stinnette, both of Waukegan, police said. Their families have asked to review police video to see for themselves what led to the shooting, saying they want answers and justice.

A search of the car revealed no gun.

Stinnette was taken to an area hospital where he later died because of his injuries, authorities said. Williams was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries but is expected to recover.

City officials in Waukegan are now concerned the town will become the latest site of unrest following the shooting. Just 10 miles north of Waukegan, Kenosha, Wisconsin, saw days of riots and violence — including a fatal shooting that led to charges against Antioch teen Kyle Rittenhouse — after a 29-year-old Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot and seriously injured by police.

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Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham, who knew the families of Williams and Stinnette, said he grew up in the same neighborhood as them and that their great-grandmother used to babysit him, according to an NBC Chicago report.

"To speak to them about it, yeah, it hurts," he said during the press conference Wednesday.

"I am a Black man who grew up in the same neighborhood as them. This could've been me," he added.

Meanwhile, a protest is planned for noon Thursday that will start at Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and South Avenue, the founder of the Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter told Fox 32 Chicago. The march will continue to the Waukegan Police Department, 101 N. West Street.

During a year when several shootings by police have spurred riots and more violence from communities demanding justice, officials in Waukegan are urging the public to remain "calm and patient." Nerheim said the investigation into the shooting will take time.

"I am certainly aware these situations are potentially volatile and elicit many emotions. I strongly urge and hope for continued calm and patience as the investigation takes place," he said.