'An absolute textbook response:' SPD chief details shooting at juvenile center
A veteran Springfield Police officer with a military background training a new officer was the first to arrive at the Sangamon County Juvenile Detention Center confronting a 17-year-old detainee who was running out the front door, Police Chief Ken Scarlette detailed in an exclusive interview with The State Journal-Register Tuesday.
The teen, who has not been identified by name by Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon, had a female hostage and pointed a handgun at the arriving officers when the veteran officer opened fire.
It took first officers two minutes and thirty-nine seconds from the time of the active shooter call around 7:45 p.m. Saturday until their arrival at the detention facility at 2201 S. Dirksen Pkwy., the chief said.
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Within 22 seconds of arriving, the officers encountered the teen attempting to flee.
Scarlette spoke after meeting with Illinois State Police and the Sangamon County state's attorney and reviewing evidence, including video from inside the detention center. There is also video from the vestibule of the building.
The veteran officer the chief did not name is also a field training officer and was the only officer to fire his department-issued AR-15-style rifle, Scarlette said.
Both have been placed on restricted duty and there is no immediate timetable for their return, he added. He spoke to both officers earlier Tuesday.
From watching the video, Scarlette said the suspect fired off at least four rounds at three different people before attempting to flee from the facility. None of the individuals were struck.
The State Journal-Register has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all recordings related to the incident.
No one was struck, Scarlette said, "but it was clear that his intention was to inflict physical harm and kill any individual who got in his way."
The control room operator who made the 911 call was pleading for her life and encouraging the suspect to put down the gun and leave, Scarlette said, after listening to the audiotape. Gunfire could be heard on the 911 audiotape.
The caller indicated to dispatch that someone had been struck by gunfire inside the building.
The teen demanded all the doors be unlocked, which is why he was able to open the front door, Scarlette said.
A female detainee was taken hostage by the teen in the day room. Scarlette said the teen put the female in a headlock, pointed the gun to her head, and said "I will kill her if you do not open the doors to the facility."
The teen, Scarlette said, was about halfway out the front entrance to the building when officers encountered him.
The SPD officer fired approximately seven rounds initially and at least one other shot, Scarlette said. The handgun flew out of the teen's hand into the vestibule and the individual fell backward as well.
As the officers approached, Scarlette said the teen crawled and reached towards the firearm when the veteran officer discharged another round into the subject.
The teen put his hands in the air. The hostage was pulled to safety by the officer-in-training and the teen was handcuffed as other officers tended to his injuries, Scarlette said.
He was taken by ambulance to HSHS St. John's Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:41 p.m.
The initial shots at the teen were directly to his body, Scarlette said. He would not say where the teen was struck.
Allmon said an autopsy was performed Monday and preliminary findings suggested the teen died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The female hostage suffered two injuries and was treated and released, Scarlette said.
SPD, among other agencies, cleared the remainder of the facility to check for any additional shooters and to attend to any possible injured persons.
The two officers had engaged their body cameras, Scarlette said, and he said it was his intention to release the body-worn camera video as soon as possible.
Scarlette said the department regularly trains on active shooter scenarios at the Springfield Police Academy and a training facility in Macon County, among other places, and that work paid off Saturday.
"What I witnessed first-hand of that video, the two initial responding officers did absolutely everything they've been trained," Scarlette said. "An absolute textbook response. Their heroic action likely saved a lot more carnage.
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"Their job is to immediately make entrance into that facility to stop the active shooting and that's the plan they came up with and that's exactly what was put into play."
ISP did not immediately respond to questions about the incident. ISP is continuing its investigation, including the use of force in the incident.
The two SPD officers were placed on restricted duty per department policy, Scarlette said. It gives them a chance to decompress and to make sure "they are mentally and emotionally in the best place possible," Scarlette said. "When that time is over with, that restricted duty will likely mean an assignment to the Springfield Police Academy in a non-operational setting until the investigation is complete and they're ready to come back to work."
This story will be updated.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield Police chief details moments of juvenile detention facility shooting
