Naperville Cop 'Justified' In Shooting Man Who Aimed Pellet Gun

NAPERVILLE, IL -- The DuPage County State's Attorney's Office has ruled that a Naperville police officer was justified when he shot a man outside of Los Burritos Tapatios in late January. Authorities say officer Jordan Koziel fired his weapon seven times, striking Zachery Kelley, 27, in the left knee and right shoulder after Kelley began to approach Koziel with what appeared to be a handgun.

It was later determined that Kelley was armed with a pellet gun throughout the Jan. 23 incident that authorities described as a "silver W.C.G. s-102 Sport 102 plastic BB/air soft type pistol."

Police were first alerted to Kelley's presence after a call reporting that someone was trying to get into a woman's locked car at the Mobil gas station at 1280 W. Ogden Ave. When police got to the scene, they round Kelley in the nearby parking lot of Los Burritos Tapatios, pointing what police still believed to be a real gun at his own head.

According to the State's Attorney's Office, Koziel described the weapon in question as "a silver semi-automatic," adding that "there wasn’t an orange tip on it.”

Video footage shows officers pleading with Kelley to put down the gun. Officer Koziel can be heard saying, "My name is Jordan, what’s your name? Tell me what’s going on, we want to help you. We care about you, OK? Things can always get better. It’s not over; it’s never over. Things can always get better. Let me help you, give me a chance to help you.”

Kelley then stands up and begins approaching police officers with the pellet gun extended. According to DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, "Officer Koziel told investigators he is positive he had to shoot Kelley or Kelley was going to kill him and the other officers."

Koziel told authorities that no one yelled that the gun Kelley was holding was fake. Police say they did not realize the nature of Kelley's weapon until they approached him to place him in handcuffs after he had been shot.

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said "[t]he fact that the gun Kelley pointed at the officers was a plastic BB/air soft pistol is of no legal consequence.

Berlin added, "Given the violent actions of Kelley, Kelley’s refusal to obey repeated police commands to drop the gun he held in his hand, and Kelly’s action of pointing the gun directly at officers, it was reasonable for Officer Koziel to believe Kelley was attempting to shoot him or the other Naperville police officers, and that deadly force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself and the other officers. "

Read more:

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