Man accused of shooting Granite City Police officer shot dead in standoff, police say
A suspect wanted in the shooting of a Granite City Police officer was killed Wednesday night in an exchange of gunfire with police in southern Illinois, according to multiple reports.
Donald J. Friese, 39, became the subject of a manhunt Tuesday night after authorities said he shot an officer in the 2400 block of Delmar Avenue in Granite City and then fled.
Police in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, confirmed late Wednesday night that Friese was shot and killed in his vehicle after a brief standoff, according to television station KFVS-12 in Cape Girardeau.
Illinois State Police reported the pursuit of a subject by state troopers, the United States Marshals Service, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s office and Cape Girardeau Police about 8:40 p.m.
The suspect was found on Illinois 146 at Virginia Street in East Cape Girardeau, Illinois. He had attempted to drive through a field and became stuck, according to Illinois State Police.
Friese pulled out a “black long gun” and fired at the law enforcement officers, KFVS reported. He was killed in the return fire, the TV station confirmed.
None of the officers involved in the pursuit were injured. The eastbound lanes of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge connecting Cape Girardeau to Illinois were closed into the morning hours.
The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office said Thursday it has been notified that Friese had died in the shooting
During a news conference Wednesday, Granite City Police Chief Nick Novacich announced that Friese had been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful use or possession of weapons by a felon in connection with the shooting of an officer on Tuesday.
Officers had responded to the 2400 block of Delmar Avenue about 10:08 p.m. when they encountered Friese. Officers were attempting to locate a weapon on Friese when the shooting occurred, according to court documents.
After the shooting, Friese fled on foot but then returned to the residence and escaped in a vehicle, according to the court records. A dispatcher told officers that the subject had been acting “crazy” and was saying that his gun was stolen, according to court records.
“The suspect was around the back of the house,” Novacich said in describing the scene. “The officers went around to the back of the house and started talking to him.
“As they were talking to him, his actions indicated something more was going on. So the officers became a little more suspicious of his activities and when they tried to engage with him and talk to him further, it turned into a scuffle and in the scuffle one of our officers was shot in the arm.”
The officer, who has about 10 years of experience and is a combat veteran, was treated at a local hospital and has since been released. Novacich said that he does not yet know the long-term prognosis for the officer but that he hopes he can return to duty soon because he’s a “rock star police officer.”
Novacich said Friese used his own weapon in the shooting and not one of the officers’. The weapon had not been recovered, but the vehicle in which he fled was.
Illinois State Police troopers were called to investigate “the use of force portion of this incident,” according to a state police news release. Novacich said he believes his officers handled the shooting correctly and that state police will not find anything wrong with the officers’ actions.
Court records show that the officers were wearing body cameras that were in operation at the time of the shooting.
Previous charges
Friese pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder and was given a 12-year prison sentence for causing the death of Mercedes Ferrarie-Troisi, 18, in 2013.
Friese originally had been charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
The charges stemmed from a crash on April 29, 2013, when Ferrarie-Troisi was ejected from a vehicle after being hit by Friese. Friese was driving in excess of 100 mph when he rammed into the other vehicle, according to a Belleville News-Democrat account of Friese’s sentencing hearing in 2016.
Friese was released from state prison before serving the entire 12-year sentence.
“This individual is a convicted felon. He has been in prison. This is not his first rodeo,” Novacich said when asked if he was frustrated with Friese being on the streets. “Criminals don’t play by rules,” he said. “I don’t expect him to play by any rule. “He’s acting exactly the way we would expect him to act and yes, that’s very frustrating.”
At the time of the fatal crash in 2013, Friese was on home confinement on a federal narcotics charge. He had a total of five felony convictions at the time of his sentencing hearing in 2016.
In August, Friese was charged with two counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude police in St. Clair County. He has a preliminary hearing on those charges scheduled for Friday.
