No Charges Filed Against Oswego Officers Who Shot Armed Man

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis will not be filing any charges against two Oswego police officers who opened fire on a man claiming he was going to create a massacre and shoot people.

According to a release from Weis, he came to the decision after reviewing all the police reports, witness statements, evidence at the scene, photographs, video and audio recordings and radio traffic and 911 calls.

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“I have concluded that no criminal charges against Officer Chad Dickey or Officer Ben Hackl are warranted in this matter,” Weis said in a statement.

Officers Dickey and Hackl were called to a residence on the 0-100 block of Ashlawn Avenue block for a report of a man threatening to kill himself and others.

In phone calls to police, Taylor J. Cano, 24, of the 0-100 block of Ashlawn Avenue, said he was armed and was going to shoot several people. When officers arrived, Cano was holding a rifle. After telling Cano to put down his weapon, Cano raised his rifle and pointed it at the officers and fired one round.

The officers returned fire and Cano was struck in the stomach with a non-lethal wound. He was taken to Rush-Copley Medical Center for his injuries and was taken into custody once he was released.

“Upon reviewing the facts of this case,” Weis said in a statement, “the actions of Officers Dickey and Hackl were reasonable, and the use of deadly force was appropriate when Cano raised his firearm at the officers and fired at them.”

According to police, Cano had obtained the firearm from the Ashlawn home he had been staying at off and on. He believed a motorcycle gang had his house surrounded and felt he was going to die that night and he wanted to draw headlines to his murder by going to the party and shooting people.

Police learned that had they not intervened, he would have shot people at the party. At this point, there is no indication that Cano knew or had any type of altercation with people at the party prior to the incident.

Cano was released Sept. 17 from the hospital and police took him into custody. He was booked at the Oswego Police Dept. and taken to the Kendall County Jail.

Police had had a previous encounter with Cano Aug. 12 when officers saw him standing in the area of Route 25 and Glendale yelling for police to kill him while holding what appeared to be an eight to 10 inch spear. Cano was subdued and taken to a hospital for evaluation.